Structural explanation of the rheology of a colloidal suspension under high dc electric fields

In this work we describe the electrorheology of suspensions consisting of hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) particles dispersed in silicone oil in the presence of large dc electric fields. If an electric field pulse is applied to the systems, it is possible to estimate the time that the electrorheological (ER) fluid takes to reach its final microstructure in the presence of the field. Our results indicate that response times of several seconds are typical, and that this time decreases with the field strength. Conventional shear-rate sweeps indicate the existence of a well-defined dynamic yield stress and a shear-thinning behavior. Interestingly, both the yield stress and the shear-thinning slope alpha [relating the viscosity, eta, and the shear rate, .gamma, as eta=alphagamma(.-b) + eta (infinity)] show a linear dependence on the field strength, E, in disagreement with the E2 dependence often reported. This deviation is associated with changes in the conductivity of the dispersion medium with the field strength. A simple calculation of the interactions present in our ER fluid demonstrates that the ER behavior is entirely controlled by hydrodynamic (proportional to .gamma) and electrical forces (proportional to E). This is confirmed by the collapse of all experimental results in a single master curve when the relative viscosity is plotted against the ratio .gamma/E. Careful attention has been paid in this work to the microstructure of the suspensions in the presence of both shear and electric fields simultaneously: the particles gather themselves on the walls of the electrorheological measurement cell, forming aggregates with cylindrical symmetry, shaped as rings or lamellas of solids. The electric field induced increase in viscosity is the consequence of the balance between two actions: that of the electric field, tending to keep particles together, and that of the shear field, forcing the flow of the liquid phase in the regions between rings or between rings and walls.