Penetration behavior of biopolymer aqueous solutions considering rheological properties

The rheological and penetration characteristics of sodium alginate and xanthan gum aqueous solutions were analyzed for the development of biopolymer-based injection materials. The results of viscosity measurements for the rheological characteristics analysis show that all aqueous biopolymer solutions exhibit a tendency for shear-thinning, i.e., the apparent viscosity decreases as the shear rate increases. In addition, a regression analysis using several models (Power-law, Casson, Sisko, and Cross) was applied to the shear-thinning fluid analysis results, the highest accuracy was determined by applying the power-law model. The micromodel experiment for the penetration characteristics analysis determined that all biopolymer aqueous solutions show higher pore saturation than water, and that pore saturation tends to increase as the flow rate and concentration increases. When comparing the rheological and penetration characteristics of the biopolymer aqueous solution used in this study, the xanthan gum aqueous solution showed a fully developed shear-thinning tendency, unlike the sodium alginate aqueous solution. This tendency is considered to have the advantage of enhancement injectability and pore saturation.