Guar gum is needed for producing sufficient viscosity. Because less is required, costs are reduced. This would help explain its presence in so many things today. In addition to guar gum's effects on viscosity, its high ability to flow, or "deform", gives it very favorable rheological properties. It forms breakable gels when cross-linked with boron. It is used in various multi-phase formulations for hydraulic fracturing, in some as an emulsifier because it helps to prevent oil droplets from coalescing, and in others as a stabilizer to help prevent solid particles from settling and/or separating. Fracking entails the pumping of sand-laden fluids into
Gel dosimetry to be known as a normoxic gel dosimeter, compared with the previous PAG formulation which subsequently became known as a hypoxic gel dosimeter. The MAGIC polymer gel formulation consisted of methacrylic acid, ascorbic acid, gelatine and copper. The principal behind the MAGIC gel is in the ascorbic acid oxygen scavenger. Ascorbic acid binds free oxygen contained within the aqueous gelatine matrix into metallo-organic complexes and this process is initiated by copper sulphate. It was subsequently shown by De Deene "et al" in 2002 that other antioxidants could be used in the manufacture of normoxic gels including tetrakis (hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride,