| Budget Amount *help |
¥5,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
We study the shear-induced gelation of mixtures of nanoparticle and associating polymers by using a molecular dynamics simulation method and transient network theory. The steady shear viscosity obtained by the simulation exhibits strong shear thickening at moderate shear rates, and shear thinning at larger shear rates. By analyzing the simulation data, it is shown that strong shear-thickening is caused by the network formation induced by shear flow. The scenario of the shear-induced network formation is as follows. In the small shear-rate regime, polymer chains take compact conformations due to strong association with a few colloid particles, which suppress the network formation. In the shear-thickening regime, such associated structures are destroyed by shear flow, leading to expanded conformations of polymer chains. This conformational change promotes the intermolecular association of polymers bridging colloid particles, and as a result, the network formation is enhanced.
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