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Rheo-Optic Studies of Carbon Nanotube Suspensions

Published

Author(s)

D J. Fry, B Langhorst, Haonan Wang, Barry J. Bauer, Erik K. Hobbie

Abstract

We have used a polarization modulation technique to investigate optical anisotropy of multi-walled and single-walled carbon nanotubes suspended in a variety of solvents. Measurement of birefringence and dichroism have been performed as a function of shear rate and tube concentration. Both increase with increasing shear rate as a result of enhanced flow alignment and also with increasing tube concentration at fixed shear. There does not appear to be a simple scaling between the tube volume fraction and the magnitude of optical anisotropy, implying a rather complex behavior of these suspensions. By considering the rotary tube diffusivity as a function of tube length and diameter, solvent viscosity and tube concentration we have found a universal scaling for both the birefringence and dichroism with rotary Peclet number.
Citation
Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume
124

Keywords

birefringence, dichroism, nanotubes

Citation

Fry, D. , Langhorst, B. , Wang, H. , Bauer, B. and Hobbie, E. (2006), Rheo-Optic Studies of Carbon Nanotube Suspensions, Journal of Chemical Physics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852402 (Accessed October 13, 2025)

Issues

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Created December 31, 2005, Updated October 12, 2021
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