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Main Authors: Burger, Nikolaos A., Loppinet, Benoit, Clarke, Andrew, Petekidis, George
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.09159
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author Burger, Nikolaos A.
Loppinet, Benoit
Clarke, Andrew
Petekidis, George
author_facet Burger, Nikolaos A.
Loppinet, Benoit
Clarke, Andrew
Petekidis, George
contents Clay minerals are abundant natural materials used widely in coatings, construction materials, ceramics, as well as being a component of drilling fluids. Here, we present the effect of steady and oscillatory preshear on organophilic modified clay gels in synthetic oil. Both platelet and needle-like particles are used as viscosifiers in drilling fluid formulations. For both particles the plateau modulus exhibits a similar concentration dependence, G_P ~ c^3.9, whereas the yield strain is γ_y ~ c^(-1) for the platelets and γ_y ~ c^-1.7 for the needles. Mixtures of the two follow an intermediate behavior: at low concentrations their elasticity and yield strain follows that of needle particles while at higher concentrations it exhibits a weaker power law dependence. Furthermore, upon varying the preshear history, the gel viscoelastic properties can be significantly tuned. At lower (higher) clay concentrations, preshear at specific oscillatory strain amplitudes or steady shear rates, may induce a hardening (softening) of the dispersions and, at all concentrations, a lowering of the shear strain. Hence, in needle dispersions preshear resulted in changes in the volume fraction dependence of the elastic modulus from G_P ~ c^3.9 to G_P ~ c^2.5 and of the yield strain from γ_y ~ c^-1.7 to γ_y ~ c^-1. However, small angle X-ray scattering showed not much structural changes, within the q-range covered. Our findings indicate ways to design colloidal organoclay dispersions with a mechanical response that can be tuned at will.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_09159
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Tuning the mechanical properties of organophilic clay dispersions: particle composition and preshear history effects
Burger, Nikolaos A.
Loppinet, Benoit
Clarke, Andrew
Petekidis, George
Soft Condensed Matter
Clay minerals are abundant natural materials used widely in coatings, construction materials, ceramics, as well as being a component of drilling fluids. Here, we present the effect of steady and oscillatory preshear on organophilic modified clay gels in synthetic oil. Both platelet and needle-like particles are used as viscosifiers in drilling fluid formulations. For both particles the plateau modulus exhibits a similar concentration dependence, G_P ~ c^3.9, whereas the yield strain is γ_y ~ c^(-1) for the platelets and γ_y ~ c^-1.7 for the needles. Mixtures of the two follow an intermediate behavior: at low concentrations their elasticity and yield strain follows that of needle particles while at higher concentrations it exhibits a weaker power law dependence. Furthermore, upon varying the preshear history, the gel viscoelastic properties can be significantly tuned. At lower (higher) clay concentrations, preshear at specific oscillatory strain amplitudes or steady shear rates, may induce a hardening (softening) of the dispersions and, at all concentrations, a lowering of the shear strain. Hence, in needle dispersions preshear resulted in changes in the volume fraction dependence of the elastic modulus from G_P ~ c^3.9 to G_P ~ c^2.5 and of the yield strain from γ_y ~ c^-1.7 to γ_y ~ c^-1. However, small angle X-ray scattering showed not much structural changes, within the q-range covered. Our findings indicate ways to design colloidal organoclay dispersions with a mechanical response that can be tuned at will.
title Tuning the mechanical properties of organophilic clay dispersions: particle composition and preshear history effects
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.09159