Rheological and structural aspects on association of hydrophobically modified polysaccharides

This review covers recent rheological and structural advances in the interactions between hydrophobically modified polysaccharides (HMP) and surfactants or cyclodextrin compounds in aqueous media. Depending on the surfactant concentration, mixtures of HMPs and a surfactant can form strong associating complexes or disrupted networks at high levels of surfactant addition. By adding cyclodextrin monomers to semidilute solutions of HMPs, the hydrophobic interactions can be deactivated and a looser network is formed. For HMPs in the presence of cyclodextrin polymers, network structures with intriguing morphological and rheological features can be constructed. These complex fluids are of potential interest in the development of systems for drug delivery formulations. These rheology modifiers are also of current interest in many other technological applications.