Study of drying of kappa-carrageenan gel at various temperatures using a fluorescence technique

Abstract

The steady-state fluorescence technique was used to study drying of kappa-carrageenan gel at various temperatures. Pyranine was doped as a fluorescence probe, and scattered light, I-sc, and fluorescence intensities, I, were monitored during drying of these gels. It was observed that I decreased linearly as drying time is increased. The moving boundary model based on Case II diffusion was applied to produce the packing constants, k(0), at higher temperatures. Activation energy for drying was found to be 53.9 kJ mol(-1). Supporting gravimetric and volumetric measurements were also carried out during drying of gels and the corresponding activation energies were determined to be 46.4 and 58.9 kJ mol(-1), respectively.