Shear Thickening Fluid Preparation for Discontinuous Thickening
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Solution Overview
Problem
The preparation of high-concentration shear thickening fluids is complicated and inefficient, particularly in achieving discontinuous shear thickening, which is crucial for applications requiring impact resistance and energy absorption.
Innovation Solution
A method involving nanoparticle pretreatment with micromolecular alcohol solvents, followed by centrifugation, freeze-drying, and vacuum drying to achieve uniform dispersion and impurity removal, ensuring a concentration range of 0.30 to 0.55 for discontinuous shear thickening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional methods are used to prepare high-concentration shear thickening fluid, then the fluid concentration can reach critical value for discontinuous shear thickening, but the preparation process becomes complicated and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-treating nanoparticles with micromolecular alcohol before mixing them with polyhydric alcohol. This pre-treatment step modifies the nanoparticle surface to improve compatibility and dispersion, enabling faster and more efficient formation of high-concentration shear thickening fluid with discontinuous shear thickening behavior. The pretreated nanoparticles are then quickly mixed with polyhydric alcohol to achieve the target concentration range (0.30-0.55) without complicated multi-step processes.
2Reliability
If fluid concentration is increased to achieve discontinuous shear thickening, then the shear thickening effect is enhanced, but the preparation process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by optimizing the concentration range of nanoparticles in polyhydric alcohol to 0.30-0.55, which is the critical range for achieving discontinuous shear thickening. Additionally, the patent controls the water content and micromolecular alcohol content to not exceed 4 wt% through vacuum drying. These precise parameter controls ensure reliable discontinuous shear thickening effect while maintaining a relatively simple preparation process consisting of pretreatment, mixing, and vacuum drying steps.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method simplifies the preparation process and enhances the discontinuous shear thickening properties of the fluid, making it suitable for stab-resistant and impact protection materials.
Implementation Method 1
Micromolecular alcohol pretreatment solvents are able to adsorb on the surface of most particles through van der Waals forces
Implementation Method 2
The nanoparticles are dispersed in a micromolecular alcohol pretreatment solvent and then centrifuged
Implementation Method 3
The nanoparticles are dispersed in a micromolecular alcohol pretreatment solvent and then centrifuged and freeze-dried
Implementation Method 4
The fluid is vacuum dried so that a total content of water and micromolecular alcohol impurities does not exceed 4 wt %
Implementation Method 5
The nanoparticles are ultrasonically dispersed in a pretreatment solvent during pretreatment of the nanoparticles
Implementation Method 6
When an external force acts on the fluid, the particles aggregate to form particle clusters, and the fluid viscosity increases exponentially with the formation of particle clusters
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed in the present invention are a preparation method for a shear thickening fluid and a use of the fluid. The preparation of the fluid comprises: first dispersing nanoparticles in a micromolecular alcohol pretreatment solvent, then centrifuging and freeze-drying to obtain freeze-dried powder, slowly adding the nanoparticle freeze-dried powder into polyhydric alcohol, slowly stirring and mixing until no macroscopic lump exists, then uniformly mixing by using a vortex oscillator or a bottle rolling machine to prepare a fluid with good uniformity, and finally drying and removing impurities to make the total content of water and micromolecular alcohol impurities not exceed 4 wt %, thereby obtaining a shear thickening fluid.