Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions
Published on: April 19, 2018
Rheology and microstructure of polymer nanocomposite melts: variation of polymer segment-surface interaction
Benjamin J Anderson1, Charles F Zukoski
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Abstract:
We have studied the effects of particle packing fraction, polymer molecular weight (MW), and polymer-segment-particle-surface affinity on the phase behavior of 44 nm silica dispersions in unentangled, low MW polyethylene oxide (PEO), polyethylene oxide dimethyl ether (PEODME), and polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) through rheological measurement and small-angle X-ray scattering. Particles are shown to be stable in PEO nanocomposites up to high volume fractions due to an adsorbed layer of polymer segments that stabilizes particles in the melt. Comparison of the PEO nanocomposite to PEODME and PTHF nanocomposites reveals little evidence of an adsorbed layer in the spirit of the PEO nanocomposite. Measurement of the PTHF nanocomposite viscosity reveals evidence of segment slip at the particle surface by the particle intrinsic viscosity being less than Einstein's value. At higher particle volume fractions, the viscosity diverges, yielding an elastic response. The elastic response of the PEO nanocomposite has the signatures of a colloidal glass, while the PEODME and PTHF nanocomposites resemble a gel. Measurement of the particle structure factor reveals a change from overall repulsive particles in PEO to attractive particles in PTHF as the segment-surface interaction is changed.
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
Polymer Classification: Architecture
Classification and Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Polymers
Determination of Molar Masses of Polymers II
Determination of Molar Masses of Polymers I

