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Updated: May 22, 2026

Dielectric RheoSANS — Simultaneous Interrogation of Impedance, Rheology and Small Angle Neutron Scattering of Complex Fluids
Published on: April 10, 2017
Rheology of fluids measured by correlation force spectroscopy
Milad Radiom1, Brian Robbins, Christopher D F Honig
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA.
Abstract:
We describe a method, correlation force spectrometry (CFS), which characterizes fluids through measurement of the correlations between the thermally stimulated vibrations of two closely spaced micrometer-scale cantilevers in fluid. We discuss a major application: measurement of the rheological properties of fluids at high frequency and high spatial resolution. Use of CFS as a rheometer is validated by comparison between experimental data and finite element modeling of the deterministic ring-down of cantilevers using the known viscosity of fluids. The data can also be accurately fitted using a harmonic oscillator model, which can be used for rapid rheometric measurements after calibration. The method is non-invasive, uses a very small amount of fluid, and has no actively moving parts. It can also be used to analyze the rheology of complex fluids. We use CFS to show that (non-Newtonian) aqueous polyethylene oxide solution can be modeled approximately by incorporating an elastic spring between the cantilevers.
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