Correlating inter-particle forces and particle shape to shear-induced aggregation/fragmentation and rheology for dilute anisotropic particle suspensions: A complementary study via capillary rheometry and in-situ small and ultra-small angle X-ray scattering

Anthony J Krzysko; Elias Nakouzi; Xin Zhang; Trent R Graham; Kevin M Rosso; Gregory K Schenter; Jan Ilavsky; Ivan Kuzmenko; Matthew G Frith; Cornelius F Ivory; Sue B Clark; Javen S Weston; Katie M Weigandt; James J De Yoreo; Jaehun Chun; Lawrence M Anovitz

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.04.016

Correlating inter-particle forces and particle shape to shear-induced aggregation/fragmentation and rheology for dilute anisotropic particle suspensions: A complementary study via capillary rheometry and in-situ small and ultra-small angle X-ray scattering

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 Sep 15:576:47-58. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.04.016. Epub 2020 Apr 25.

Authors

Anthony J Krzysko¹, Elias Nakouzi², Xin Zhang³, Trent R Graham⁴, Kevin M Rosso⁵, Gregory K Schenter⁶, Jan Ilavsky⁷, Ivan Kuzmenko⁸, Matthew G Frith⁹, Cornelius F Ivory¹⁰, Sue B Clark¹¹, Javen S Weston¹², Katie M Weigandt¹³, James J De Yoreo¹⁴, Jaehun Chun¹⁵, Lawrence M Anovitz¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, United States; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: anthony.krzysko@wsu.edu.
² Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: elias.nakouzi@pnnl.gov.
³ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: xin.zhang@pnnl.gov.
⁴ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: trenton.graham@pnnl.gov.
⁵ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: kevin.rosso@pnnl.gov.
⁶ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: greg.schenter@pnnl.gov.
⁷ Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Bldg. 433A, Argonne, IL 60439, United States. Electronic address: ilavsky@aps.anl.gov.
⁸ Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Bldg. 433A, Argonne, IL 60439, United States. Electronic address: kuzmenko@aps.anl.gov.
⁹ Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Bldg. 433A, Argonne, IL 60439, United States. Electronic address: mfrith@anl.gov.
¹⁰ The Gene and Linda Violand School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, United States. Electronic address: cfivory@wsu.edu.
¹¹ Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, United States; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: s_clark@wsu.edu.
¹² Russell School of Chemical Engineering, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, United States. Electronic address: jsw7755@utulsa.edu.
¹³ Center for Neutron Research, stop 6102, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20889-6102, United States. Electronic address: kathleen.weigandt@nist.gov.
¹⁴ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States. Electronic address: james.DeYoreo@pnnl.gov.
¹⁵ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States. Electronic address: jaehun.chun@pnnl.gov.
¹⁶ Chemical Sciences Division, MS 6110, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6110, United States. Electronic address: anovitzlm@ornl.gov.

PMID: 32413780
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.04.016

Abstract

Hypothesis: Understanding the stability and rheological behavior of suspensions composed of anisotropic particles is challenging due to the complex interplay of hydrodynamic and colloidal forces. We propose that orientationally-dependent interactions resulting from the anisotropic nature of non-spherical sub-units strongly influences shear-induced particle aggregation/fragmentation and suspension rheological behavior.

Experiments: Wide-, small-, and ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering experiments were used to simultaneously monitor changes in size and fractal dimensions of boehmite aggregates from 6 to 10,000 Å as the sample was recirculated through an in-situ capillary rheometer. The latter also provided simultaneous suspension viscosity data. Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the apparatus provided a more rigorous analysis of the fluid flow.

Findings: Shear-induced aggregation/fragmentation was correlated with a complicated balance between hydrodynamic and colloidal forces. Multi-scale fractal aggregates formed in solution but the largest could be fragmented by shear. Orientationally-dependent interactions lead to a relatively large experimental suspension viscosity when the hydrodynamic force was small compared to colloidal forces. This manifests even at low boehmite mass fractions.

Keywords: Aggregation; Boehmite; Fragmentation; Power-law fluid; Rheology; Small-angle X-ray scattering; Ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering; Wide-angle X-ray scattering.