Phase behavior and rheological properties of enzymatically synthesized trehalose decanoate aqueous solutions

Surface tension properties of an enzymatically synthesized equimolar mixture of trehalose mono- and didecanoate in aqueous solutions have been determined. At 20 °C a critical micellar concentration (CMC) of 50 μmol/l and a minimal surface tension of 28 mN/m have been obtained. Above the CMC, it has been shown that up to a concentration of 42 wt%, and in a 20–60 °C temperature range the sugar ester aqueous solutions do not form any crystalline structure, nor present any phase transition, and the trehalose decanoate molecules form an isotropic worm-like micellar phase. The rheological properties indicate however a more complicated picture in the same concentration and temperature ranges. In steady shear, the viscosity of the trehalose decanoate solutions do not exhibit any shear rate dependence from 1 to 100 s−1 for concentrations up to 42 wt%. Below 0.8 wt%, the viscosity remains constant and close to that of water; then, between 0.8 and 23 wt%, the viscosity shows a quadratic increase with surfactant concentration. For higher concentrations, up to 42 wt%, no further significant increase in viscosity is observed. In oscillatory shear experiments, the solutions exhibit viscoelastic properties. The observed rheological behavior as a function of concentration and temperature may be due to a progressive evolution of the trehalose decanoate molecular associations: as the concentration increases, the system evolves towards an entangled and/or partially branched or cross-linked micellar network, and eventually a multiconnected network of cross-linked micelles.