Rheological Behavior of Poloxamer 407 Solution and Effect of Poly(ethylene glycol) on the Gelation

The rheological behavior of poloxamer 407 solution as function of concentration and temperature was evaluated by rotational viscometer. The viscosity of poloxamer 407 solution was increased as the concentration of poloxamer 407 and temperature increased. At $4^{\circ}C$, poloxamer 407 solution showed the Newtonian flow characteristics regardless of concentration. Upon increasing temperature the poloxamer solution changed to the pseudoplastic flow pattern. And at gelation temperature, rheological profiles showed the abrupt increase in viscosity. Gelation temperature was decreased as the concentration of poloxamer 407 increased, while it increased as the concentration of poly(ethylene glycol) 4000 increased. Poly(ethylene glycol) might be expected to reduce the driving force for hydrophobic interaction resulting in slow gelation. From the viscoelastic properties of poloxamer gel system, we obtained the storage and loss modulus depending on the shear stress and frequency. And the sol-gel transition temperature was also obtained from the viscoelastic properties of poloxamer 407 gel.