Quelques aspects rhéologiques des fluides colloïdaux

Some rheological aspects of colloidal fluids

Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, USA

Abstract

In the case where the interaction between particles is negligible, the hydrodynamic approach of suspension rheology is well known. In this paper, we present, after a brief review of classical results, a summary of recent methods allowing to account for the interaction between particles and for the effects due to the colloidal properties: brownian motion, electrostatic repulsion, and attraction due to van der Waals forces. Methods designed to correlate and explain the relationship between the structure of the colloidal particles and the behaviour of the suspension are described. Recent results concerning the significant influence of additives on the particle aggregation, and then on the rheology of colloids, are presented. Finally, future research topics are proposed.