A further investigation to mechanism of the electrorheological effect of waxy oils:Behaviors of charged particles under electric field

Exposing waxy oils to an electric field may significantly improve their cold flowability.Our previous study has shown that interfacial polarization,i.e.,charged particle accumulation on the wax particle surface,is the primary mechanism of the electrorheological behavior of waxy oils.However,the way that charged particles interact with wax particles under an electric field remains unknown.In this study,we found no viscosity and impedance change for two waxy crude oils after their exposure to a high-voltage electric field.However,the yield stresses were reduced obviously.We thus proposed that the collision of colloidal particles such as resins and asphaltenes with the wax particles could be an essential mechanism that the wax particle structure was weakened.To verify this hypothesis,a series of ad hoc experiments were carried out,i.e.,by performing electrorheological tests on model waxy oils containing additives removable under an electric field,including electrically-neutral colloidal particles(Fe3O4),charged colloidal particles(resins),and oil-soluble electrolyte(C22H14CoO4),respectively,and demonstrated that upon application of a high-voltage electric field,charged particles in a waxy oil may move and thus collide with wax particles,and consequently adhere to the wax particle surface.The particle collision results in damage to the wax particle network,and the electrostatic repulsion arising from the adhesion of the charged particle on the wax particle diminishes attraction between wax particles.This study clarifies the process of interfacial polarization.

CAPTURE EFFECT OF ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL SUSPENSIONS IN FLOW FIELD

According to the results of experiments and theoretical analysis, a phenomenon called ＂capture effect＂ is put forward, which could be used to describe the particles dynamic behavior of electrorheological （ER） suspensions. Then a ＂structure-force＂ mathematical model is established to explain this effect based on electrostatic energy density equation. The analysis results show that the dynamic coupling process of ER suspensions under an external electric filed is the function not only of the electric intensity, but also of the dielectric properties and the structure form.

ER Effect of PMMA Wrapped Alumina-Siloxane Gel Doped with Rare Earths

PMMA wrapped alumina siloxane gel was obtained by using poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to wrap alumina siloxane sol which was made from water glass, aluminum nitrate and α methacrylic acid. Meanwhile, rare earth ions were used to dope in the course of reaction, and stable suspensions was produced by putting PMMA wrapped microcapsule powder doped with rare earths into methy silicon oil. It is found that its electrorheological (ER) effect improves strikingly after loading electric field. At a certain concentration, the immediate viscosity increases from 95 to 178 Pa·s compared to the system without doping.

The Synthesis and Electrorheological Properties of BaTiO_3-coated PMMA Microspheres

Coated-PMMA microspheres consisting of poly （methyl methacrylate）（PMMA） core and barium titanate （BaTiO3） shell were synthesized by the modified sol-gel processing and then adopted as an electrorheological （ER） materials. The structure and morphology of coated powders were chyfecterized by SEM and FT-IR; the shear stress of the suspensions of coated-PMMA particles and pure PMMA particles in silicone oil with a 20 vol% were investigated. The results show that the BaTiO3 coated PMMA microspheres based suspension in silicone oil exhibited typical ER behavior and stronger ER effects.

Photonic band structure of three-dimensional colloidal crystals with field-induced lattice structure transformation

By utilizing the electrorheological effect, three-dimensional colloidal crystals can be produced, whose lattice structure can be changed from the body-centered-tetragonal lattice to other lattices under the application of electric fields. This paper calculates photonic band structures of such crystals with lattice structure transformation, and demonstrates the existence of complete band gaps for some intermediate lattices. Thus, it becomes possible to use the electrorheological effect to achieve photonic crystals with desired photonic gap properties resulting from tunable structures.