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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• prevulcanised natural rubber latex
• single-walled carbon nanotubes
• flow behavior
• shear rate
• apparent viscosity
• non-newtonian
• shear-thinning