In situ follow-up of hybrid alginate-silicate microbeads formation by linear rheology

Hybrid alginate-silicate microbeads of about 10-20 μm were synthesized by combining alginate crosslinking, silica condensation in a one pot approach using a food grade emulsion as template. A fine tuning of the formulation composition (alginate, silica and calcium sources) is necessary in order to obtain core-shell microbeads instead of unshaped and irregular fragments or even perforated spherical beads. Importantly, in situ linear rheology provides insights into the reaction mechanism as a result of the rheological fingerprint profile obtained during beads formation. In situ linear rheology provides insights on the complex formation mechanism of hybrid silica materials through sol-gel process of silica and gelification of alginate.