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Rheological properties of suspensions of polyethylene-coated aluminum nanoparticles

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Abstract

Ultrafine aluminum powder was identified as very promising fuels for novel energetic materials formulations. However, the large specific surface area of this powder facilitates its oxidation and greatly reduces its shelf life. Therefore, different coating processes were proposed to solve this problem. The rheology of viscous suspensions of nanoparticles still remains poorly understood and the effect of the coating of such particles on the flow behavior is even more difficult to assess. We have studied the rheology of ultrafine aluminum suspensions in three low molecular weight polymers of different viscosities: a hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene, a polypropylene glycol, and a polysiloxane. The nanosize aluminum powder was previously coated by a thin layer of high-density polyethylene using an in situ polymerization process. The rheological characterization of the suspensions was conducted by the means of steady and oscillatory shear flow measurements for noncoated and coated particles. The effect of the coating process on the rheology of the suspensions is discussed in terms of the interactions between the particles and the suspending fluids.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the DRDC Agency for financially supporting this work. We also convey our thanks to the technical staff of DRDC-Valcartier who helped with the particle size characterization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Applied Research on Polymer and Composites (CREPEC), Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique, C. P. 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Baptiste Mary, Charles Dubois & Pierre J. Carreau

  2. Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC), 2459 Pie XI, Blvd North, Val-Bélair, Québec, G3J 1X5, Canada

    Patrick Brousseau

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  1. Baptiste Mary
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  2. Charles Dubois
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  3. Pierre J. Carreau
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  4. Patrick Brousseau
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Correspondence to Charles Dubois.

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Mary, B., Dubois, C., Carreau, P.J. et al. Rheological properties of suspensions of polyethylene-coated aluminum nanoparticles. Rheol Acta 45, 561–573 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-006-0095-1

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