A study on the nature of intermolecular links in the cryotropic weak gels of hyaluronan

In this study, the influence of acidification and salting effect on the properties of hyaluronan (HA) aqueous solutions and cryotropic weak gels were investigated by dynamic rheometry, polarizing and optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and FTIR spectroscopy. The forming mechanism of HA cryotropic weak gels was also discussed. Experimental results indicated that the HA weak gel showing a thermoreversible property was constructed by entangled bundle-like structures that could be melted at elevated temperature above 70 °C, and that the junction knots of three-dimensional polymeric network were not the ordinary microcrystalline zones that are generally of detectable crystallinity and thermal effect. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding induced from –COOH and –NHCOCH3 in HA chains played a predominant role in respect to the network formation and stabilization of HA weak gel.