A novel methodology for non-destructive and real-time determination of the gelation threshold for both chemical and physical systems has been proposed. This method i.e., a time-resolved dynamic light scattering (TRDLS) measurement, allows one not only to determine the gelation threshold but also to investigate critical dynamics near gelation threshold, mechanism of gelation, and architecture of gelling cluster. The gelation threshold was found to be characterized by (1) the appearance of a speckle pattern in the scattering intensity, (2) a power-law in the intensity–time correlation function (ICF), (3) a specific broadening of the distribution function, and (4) a noticeable suppression of the initial amplitude of ICF. All of these features originate from some unique aspects of gels: nonergodicity, frozen inhomogeneities, and divergence of connectivity correlation. As an application of these concepts, we propose four methods for determination of gelation threshold and examine their validity and usefulness for various types of gels; these include chemical gels of N-isopropylacrylamide, a gelling system of silica gel in a reaction batch, thermoreversible physical gels of poly(vinyl alcohol)–Congo Red complex, and biological gels of gelatin and globular protein.
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Shibayama et al. (2002) studied this question.
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