Small Angle Neutron Scattering From Viscoelastic Polymer-Clay Solutions

Published

January 1, 2002

Author(s)

G Schmidt, A Nakatani, Paul Butler, Charles C. Han

Abstract

The influence of shear on viscoelastic polymer-clay solutions was investigated by means of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) under shear. 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 enhanced orientation of the clay platelets in the shear field. We observe an unusual alignment of clay platelets along the flow direction with the surface normal parallel to the vorticity direction. SANS on regular samples (contrast between D2O and solution components) measured the shear-induced orientation of polymer and platelets. SANS on contrast matched samples detected the orientation of the polymer alone. With increasing shear rate, clay particles orient first (SANS on regular samples) then polymer chains start to stretch (SANS on contrast matched samples). Cessation of shear leads to fast recovery demonstrating the system to be highly elastic.

Citation

Macromolecules

Volume

35

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

clay, network, polymer, SANS, shear, solution, viscoelastic

Citation

Schmidt, G. , Nakatani, A. , Butler, P. and Han, C. (2002), Small Angle Neutron Scattering From Viscoelastic Polymer-Clay Solutions, Macromolecules, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=851940 (Accessed April 23, 2024)