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Updated: Jan 13, 2026
06:07
Studying Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear Response of Soft Materials
Published on: April 25, 2019
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Shift Between Two Types of Linear Viscoelastic Spectra in the Liquid-to-Solid Transition.
Weibin Wu1, Yingkang Dai1, Weixiang Sun1
1Research Institute of Materials Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Macromolecular Rapid Communications
|January 9, 2026
Summary
Soft materials transition from liquid to solid via two distinct rheological pathways: dynamical arrest (Type I) and percolation (Type II). Material history and composition dictate the transition route, revealing aggregation kinetics.
Area of Science:
- Soft matter physics
- Rheology
- Colloid science
Background:
- The liquid-solid transition (LST) is crucial in soft materials.
- Understanding rheological pathways is key to controlling material properties.
- Previous studies lacked a unified framework for diverse LST mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To distinguish and characterize distinct rheological routes to the LST in soft materials.
- To investigate the influence of composition, aging, and shear history on the LST pathway.
- To establish a unified mechanism linking aggregation kinetics to observed rheological behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Linear viscoelastic spectroscopy using small-amplitude oscillatory shear.
- Tracking the evolution of the viscoelastic spectrum over time.
- Mapping material behavior in composition-shear space for synthetic hectorite suspensions.
Main Results:
- Identified two rheological routes: Type I (dynamical arrest) and Type II (percolation with criticality).
- Freshly prepared suspensions followed Type II, while aging and pre-shear induced history-dependent pathways.
- High clay concentrations favored Type I, while lower concentrations transitioned from Type I to Type II, influenced by pre-shear rate.
- Linked LST routes to aggregation kinetics: peaked distributions for Type I and heavy-tailed distributions for Type II.
Conclusions:
- The study provides a spectrum-based framework for understanding LST in soft materials.
- Explains why shear rejuvenation does not fully restore the initial state of aged materials.
- Offers insights into physical and chemical gelation processes in colloidal and polymer systems.
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