A review of the optical microstructure and rheology of carbon nanotube suspensions

A. W. K. Ma (1) , K. M. Yearsley (1) , Francisco Chinesta (2) , M. R. Mackley (1)

1 Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
2 GeM - Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique

The present review is concerned with the way that the incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into a fluid matrix can modify the microstructure and rheology of the resulting suspensions. Some background to CNT manufacture and in particular methods of dispersing them into a suspension is presented for a range of different systems, where effective dispersion of CNTs remains a delicate and open issue. Steady shear, linear viscoelasticity, non-linear viscoelasticity and extensional responses are classified for a range of different CNT/matrix combinations together with their associated microstructure. The rheological modelling of certain CNT/matrix systems is reviewed, with particular attention given to the authors’ work on modelling CNT suspension behaviour using Fokker—Planck advection-diffusion modelling.

Domaines: Matériaux; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

A. W. K. Ma, K. M. Yearsley, Francisco Chinesta, M. R. Mackley. A review of the optical microstructure and rheology of carbon nanotube suspensions. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part N: Journal of Nanoengineering and Nanosystems, 2010, 222 (3), pp.71-94. ⟨10.1243/17403499JNN153⟩. ⟨hal-01004938⟩