Aggregation and network formation of aqueous methylcellulose and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose solutions

Solution properties of methylcellulose (MC) and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) have been investigated as a function of temperature and concentration using a broad range of experimental techniques. Novelties include the extensive comparison between MC and HPMC solutions as well as the combination of techniques, and the use of Cryo transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM). The correlation between rheology and light scattering results clearly demonstrates the relation between viscosity change and aggregation. Cryo-TEM images show the network structures formed. Viscosity measurements show that for both MC and HPMC solutions sudden changes in viscosity occur as the temperature is increased. The onset temperature for these changes depends on polymer concentration and heating rate. For both MC and HPMC solutions the viscosity on cooling is very different compared to on heating, demonstrating the slow equilibration time. The viscosity changes in MC and HPMC solutions are dramatically different; for MC solutions the viscosity increases by several orders of magnitude when a critical temperature is reached, whereas for HPMC solutions the viscosity decreases abruptly at a given temperature, followed by an increase upon further heating. Light and (SAXS) small-angle X-ray scattering shows that the increase in viscosity, for MC as well as for HPMC solutions, is due to extensive aggregation of the polymers. Light scattering also provides information on aggregation kinetics. The SAXS measurements allow us to correlate aggregation hysteresis to the viscosity hysteresis, as well as to extract some structural information. Cryo-TEM images give novel information that a fibrillar network is formed in MC solutions, and the strong viscosity increase occurs when this network spans the whole solution volume. For HPMC solutions the behaviour is more complex. The decrease in viscosity can be related to the formation of compact objects, and the subsequent increase to formation of fibrillar structures, which are more linear and less entangled than for MC.