Thixotropic destruction and secondary cluster growth of supramolecular crystals in suspensions of monodisperse spherical silica particles

Supramolecular crystals (SC) which appear in concentrated suspensions of monodisperse spherical silica particles (MSSP) can be mechanically destroyed. This destruction occurs because the bonding of structural units (SU) in SC is weak and the interaction forces of SU become locally unbalanced. The SC are destroyed into microblocks with the initial SC structure. The nascent secondary suspension consists of these blocks (clusters). The secondary crystals grow from the clusters and when these clusters are large, the growth is of a dendritic character.