2.10. Rheological Measurements

The oscillatory rheological experiments of the optimized hydrogels were performed using a HAAKE MARS III rheometer (Thermo Scientific, Karlsruhe, Germany) with a 35 mm diameter cone (2° angle) and a plate rheometer equipped with a Peltier unit to control the temperature [52]. The desired gap between cone and plate was set to 0.105 mm. To identify the linear viscoelastic (LVE) region, the strain sweep experiments were carried out from 0.10% to 1000% strain amplitude at a constant frequency of 1 Hz and 37 °C. The frequency sweeps were conducted in a frequency ranging from 0.1 to 100 Hz within the LVE range (10% deformation). The gelation time was determined by time sweeps at a fixed temperature of 37 °C with a frequency of 1 Hz and 10% strain, while the gelation temperature was investigated by increasing temperature from 25 to 40 °C at a heating rate of 1 °C/min. The storage modulus (G’) and the loss modulus (G’’) were recorded.