High shear capillary rheometry of cellulose nanocrystals for industrially relevant processing

A microcapillary rheometer was employed to study the rheological characteristics of CNCs at temperatures between 15 degrees C and 50 degrees C and aqueous concentrations between 1.5 wt% and 12.1 wt%, at rates up to 8 x 10(5) s(-1). Time-temperature and time-concentration superposition were applied to analyze the data. A master curve of shear rate sweeps at temperatures between 15 degrees C and 50 degrees C was successfully generated to a reference temperature of 25 degrees C with the shift factor plot suggesting an Arrhenius relationship over the entire measured temperature range. Concentration-dependent data indicate a high shear Newtonian plateau at the limit of low concentration. Repeated testing of the same sample volume was implemented to represent extended times at elevated stress, with repeated experiments leading to a permanent decrease in viscosity. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) suggests sensitivity of the CNC geometry to moderate stress in a flow field.