Rheological behavior of konjac glucomannan/attapulgite blended solution

Konjac glucomannan(KGM)was modified by blending with attapulgite(AT).The dynamic rheological tester was used to study the effect of different AT loadings on the rheological behavior of the blended solutions at 20℃.The results show that the complex viscosity and storage modulus as well as loss modulus of the blended solutions are lowered than those of pure KGM solution in most cases.When AT content is low,the individual AT nano-rod can rotate freely under external force,which induces the orientation of KGM molecules,and the liquid-like behavior of the blended solution becomes more pronounced;when AT content is high,since the volume effect confines the motion of KGM molecules,the blended solutions display the solid-like behavior.Besides,it was found that local percolation network structure might be formed in the case of mass ratio of AT/KGM=2%.With the increase of AT loading,the blended solutions are seemed to be less frequency dependent compared with pure KGM solution,but more heterogeneous in internal structure.