A Study of the Flow Behavior of Prevulcanised Natural Rubber Latex/singlewalled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) Blends Using Rotational Viscometry and Power Law Model

• Main Authors: Agbakoba Victor Chike, Yah Clarence S., Simate Geoffrey S., Hlangothi Shanganyane Percy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 2018-12-01
• Series: Applied Rheology
• Subjects: prevulcanised natural rubber latex; single-walled carbon nanotubes; flow behavior; shear rate; apparent viscosity; non-newtonian; shear-thinning
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3933/applrheol-28-64175

This work describes the flow behavior of prevulcanised natural rubber latex (PvNRL) and PvNRL nanoblends containing 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08 wt.% of aqueous dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). The assay was performed under varying shear rates (between 0.1 – 100 1/s) at three separate isothermal temperatures (25, 30, and 35 °C) on a Modular Compact Rheometer (MCR) fitted with a concentric cylinder measuring system. A steady decrease in viscosity upon every single shear rate increment was observed for all the samples analysed. Thus, each measured viscosity was considered an apparent-viscosity; which confirms a typical non-Newtonian flow behavior. PvNRL blends containing highest wt.% SWCNT exhibited higher apparent viscosity at low shear rates, whereas the lowest wt.% SWCNT displayed a lower apparent viscosity, thus signifying a dilution effect. The power law model showed good fitting and successfully predicted the flow behavior within the modelled shear rate region.