Rheological investigation of specific interactions in Na Alginate and Na MMT suspension.

•Alginate and montmorillonite form a dynamic physical gel with a randomly dispersed montmorillonite platelets interacting with the polymer.•The associative network starts to be formed at 20wt.% montmorillonite with a peak level of association at a concentration of around 80wt.%.•The gel formation is a crucial factor to explain the observed highly organised structure during film formation.