Investigation of the Shear Thickening Fluid Encapsulation in an Orifice Coagulation Bath

The orifice coagulation bath method is proposed to encapsulate shear thickening fluid (STF) to form STF capsules, in an attempt to improve the combination of STF and the matrix as well as strengthen the flexibility and stability of the STF composites. By varying the calcium chloride concentration (10, 20 mg/mL), sodium alginate concentration (5, 7, 10 mg/mL) and the surfactant dosage (10%, 20%, 30%), optimal preparation conditions were studied, considering the capsule strength and encapsulation rate. The capsules were also characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The results show that the optimal solution for the preparation of the capsules is composed of 30% surfactant, 10 mg/mL mass concentration of CaCl₂, and 10 mg/mL mass concentration of sodium alginate. The rough surface and porous interior was observed by SEM. The average diameter of the capsules was 1.93 mm. The TGA curves indicate an improvement on the capsule thermal stability. This study thus provides a promising STF capsule preparation method.