Elastic properties of networks of fractal clusters

Yield behavior of colloidal aggregates due to combined tensile-bending loads

In this contribution, the yield behavior of a strongly flocculated colloidal structure subjected to a tensile-bending load is micromechanically modeled. The yielding of a cluster is assumed to be triggered by the failure of one bond (critical bond) and accompanied by massive breakage of further bonds. Thus, identifying the position of the critical bond and evaluating its yield force are the main goals of this study. Interparticle bonds are considered as flexible nanoscale bridges which fail when the force applied on them reaches a critical value. The yield of the critical bonds can result from both tensile and bending stresses. By means of the yield stresses in the critical bonds, the yield force of the whole cluster can be calculated.

Mechanical characterization of network formation during heat-induced gelation of whey protein dispersions

The formation of gel network structures during isothermal heating of whey protein aqueous dispersions was probed by mechanical spectroscopy. It was anticipated that the pathway of the sol-to-gel transition of whey protein dispersions is quite different from that of ordinary cross-linking polymers (e.g., percolation-type transition), since aqueous solutions of native whey proteins have been shown to be highly structured even before gelation, in our previous study. At 20 degrees C, aqueous dispersions of beta-lactoglobulin, the major whey protein, and those of whey protein isolate (WPI), a mixture of whey proteins, exhibited solid-like mechanical spectra, i.e., the predominant storage modulus G' over the loss modulus G", in a certain range of the frequency omega (1-100 rad/s), regardless of the presence or absence of added NaCl. The existence of the added salt was, however, a critical factor for determining transitions in mechanical spectra during gelation at 70 degrees C. beta-Lactoglobulin dispersions in 0.1 mol/dm(3) NaCl maintained the solid-like nature during the entire gelation process and, after passing through the gelation point, satisfied parallel power laws (G' approximately G" approximately omega(n)) that have been proposed for a critical gel (i.e., the gel at the gelation point) that possesses a self-similar or fractal network structure. In contrast, beta-lactoglobulin dispersions without added salt exhibited a transition from solid-like [G'(omega) > G"(omega)] to liquid-like [G'(omega) < G"(omega)] mechanical spectra before gelation, but no parallel power law behavior was recognized at the gelation point. During extended heating time (aging), beta-lactoglobulin gels with 0.1 mol/dm(3) NaCl showed deviations from the parallel power laws, while spectra of gels without added NaCl approached the parallel power laws, suggesting that post-gelation reactions also significantly affect gel network structures. A percolation-type sol-to-gel transition was found only for WPI dispersions without added salt.

Viscoelastic Properties of Particle Gels

The effect of strength of attraction and volume fraction on the mechanical properties of alumina particle networks were investigated. Alumina particle gels were formed reversibly and in situ in the rheometer by cooling alumina particle suspensions with adsorbed poly(12-hydroxy stearic acid) suspended in a marginal solvent, hexanol. The collapse of the polymer layer with decreasing solvency (temperature) induces flocculation when the long-range van der Waals force overcomes the remaining steric repulsion. The gelation temperature depends on volume fraction. At the gel temperature, Tgel, the gel becomes predominantly elastic; at temperatures below Tgel, the elasticity increases with decreasing temperature. We find that the elastic modulus data, measured over a wide range of volume fraction (0.2 < &phi; < 0.425) and temperature (10-14 degreesC), follows: G = G0(&phi; - &phi;g)s. This scaling suggests the prefactor and exponent to be independent of temperature. We present some arguments for why subjecting a particle gel to a preshear procedure might result in an temperature-dependent prefactor. By invoking such an effect, we are able to rescale and collapse previously published moduli data on presheared suspensions according to the (&phi; - &phi;g) expression. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.