Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Dielectric RheoSANS — Simultaneous Interrogation of Impedance, Rheology and Small Angle Neutron Scattering of Complex Fluids
Published on: April 10, 2017
Direct Observation of the Relationship between Thixotropic Behavior and Shear-Induced Orientation of Clay Particles
Hiroki Iwase1, Munehiro Kubota2, Tetsuji Itoh3
1Neutron Science and Technology Center, Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS), 162-1 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan.
Abstract:
A thixotropic characteristics of aqueous gels containing smectite clay minerals were used in various industrial applications such as paint additives, which have been affected by the clay types and clay particle sizes. A model called a house-of-card arrangement of clay particles and anisotropic arrangement in aqueous gels has been proposed. We prepared different sizes of synthetic hectorite and studied them by scanning electron-assisted dielectric microscopy (SE-ADM) and simultaneous small-angle neutron scattering and rheological measurements (Rheo-SANS). The Rheo-SANS results indicated that the clay particles with the cross-sectional radius of 30 nm were clearly oriented in the direction of shear-flow (1 × 103 s-1) direction, but the anisotropic change was not observed for an aqueous gel with clays whose average radius was 19.5 nm. The present study suggested the thixotropic characteristics of aqueous gels depend on the hectorite particle size and aggregation structure under shear conditions.
More Related Videos
08:42Challenges in Rheological Characterization of Highly Concentrated Suspensions — A Case Study for Screen-printing Silver Pastes
Published on: April 10, 2017
09:00Visualization of Failure and the Associated Grain-Scale Mechanical Behavior of Granular Soils under Shear using Synchrotron X-Ray Micro-Tomography
Published on: September 29, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Colloids and Suspensions
Colloidal precipitates
Shearing Strain
Porosity in Cement Paste
The balance of water to cement in the mix is critical—it...