Mechanical behavior of cold-water fish gelatin gels crosslinked with 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether

Abstract

In this work, chemical crosslinking with 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDDGE) is used as strategy to enhance mechanical performance of fish gelatin (FG) gels in order to meet the properties' range of mammalian gelatin physical gels. Joint analysis of free amino groups, swelling ratio, and total soluble material indicates that crosslinking degree increases with increasing FG concentration and it is favored by a 0.2 BDDGE/FG ratio. Increasing crosslinking degree enhances gel indentation strength and shear modulus (μ) while decreases fracture toughness (GIC). Measured μ and GIC values lies within the range exhibited by mammalian gelatin physical gels, but the relationship between these parameters is opposite. This is due to the different fracture mechanisms occurring in chemically crosslinked and physical gels.