A SMALL-ANGLE NEUTRON-SCATTERING STUDY OF A CLAY SUSPENSION UNDER SHEAR

The most useful expression for the orientational probability of cylinders in a suspension subjected to a shear field1 is that of Hayter and Penfold,2 reported in 1984. Here an alternative equation is proposed to account for the shear induced orientation of disks. Our equation is then used to interpret SANS (small angle neutron scattering) intensity data from dilute aqueous suspensions of Na-montmorillonite. Parenthetically we note that SANS studies on dilute clay suspensions in equilibrium are well-known3–5 but that investigations of clay suspensions under shear are not in the literature.6. © 1994, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.