Characterization of Polymer-Clay Solutions by Rheology, Flow Birefringence and SANS

Published

April 1, 2001

Author(s)

Charles C. Han, G Schmidt, A Nakatani, Alamgir Karim

Abstract

The shear orientation of viscoelastic clay-polymer solutions was investigated by means of rheology, flow birefringence and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). Oscillatory shear showed a linear visoelastic region and flow at higher stresses. With increasing steady shear rate a pronounced minimum in birefringence was observed corresponidng to the stretching of polymer chains adsorbed between clay particles as well as the orientaiton of platelets in the flow field. SANS measured the shear-induced orientation of polymer and platelets. With increasing shear rate an anisotropic scattering pattern developed. At higher shear rates, the scattering anisotropy increases due to the increased orientaiton for the clay platelets in the shear field. Cessation of shear leads to fast recovery demonstrating the system to be highly elastic.

Citation

Polymer Preprints

Volume

42(1)

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

birefringence, clay, laponite, polymer, rheology, SANS

Citation

Han, C. , Schmidt, G. , Nakatani, A. and Karim, A. (2001), Characterization of Polymer-Clay Solutions by Rheology, Flow Birefringence and SANS, Polymer Preprints, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=851829 (Accessed October 20, 2025)