This work deals with the effect of temperature on the thermal-gelation process of water solutions containing
chitosan β-glycerolphosphate disodium salt hydrate. In particular, the attention is focused on the role played by
temperature on the gel final properties, a very important aspect in the frame of drug delivery systems. The study
was performed by combining rheology and low field nuclear magnetic resonance, two approaches that revealed
to be highly synergic as they can detect different aspects of the developing polymeric network. This study
indicates that 30 °C represent a sort of threshold for both the gelation kinetics and the gel final properties.
Indeed, above this temperature, gelation kinetics was rapid and yielded to a strong gel. On the contrary, a slow
kinetics and a final weak gel occurred below 30 °C. Finally, rheology and low field NMR allowed, independently,
evaluating the time evolution of the network mesh size upon gelation.
