Rheological Study and Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Biopolymer Blend Thermogels of Tunable Strength.The temperature-induced gelation of chitosan/glycerophosphate (Chs/GP) systems through physical interactions has shown great potential for various biomedical applications.  In the present work, hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) was added to the thermosensitive Chs/GP solution to improve the mechanical strength and gel properties of the incipient Chs/HEC/GP gel in comparison with the Chs/GP hydrogel at body temperature.  The temperature and time sweep rheological characterizations of the thermogelling systems revealed that the sol-gel transition temperature of the Chs/HEC/GP blends is equal to 37 °C at neutral pH; with increasing HEC content in the solutions, more compact networks with considerably improved gel strength are formed without influencing the gelation time. 
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