Gels vary in viscosity. I would like to know which type of viscometer would work for any type of gel (both food grade and pharmaceutical grade).
For gels, a viscometer will not suffice. You will need to use a rheometer. Simply speaking, the rheometer allows you to measure the viscosity and elasticity as a function of stress, while the viscometer gives you only the viscosity at stress value, that you often cannot control, and the elasticity is assumed to be zero. Gels by definition have non-negligible elasticity.
You can use a low cost viscometer to measure the elasticity of gels, if you do not mind destroying your sample in the process. You need to use the vane geometry, see attached paper.
In my opinion, for pharmaceutical and food grade related gels, i would suggest a texture analyser to study the rheological behavior of your samples, as the instrument includes high sensitive probe, which can actually provide a clear information about minute changes of the samples with the chosen factors.
http://www.stablemicrosystems.com/?gclid=CISwvPP-0c0CFYEy0wodnI4F3w
I am already aware of the versatility and use of Rheometer. However, we are looking for some alternative to it in regards to cost and its only purpose being measurement of viscosity of gel.
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