Electrorheological properties of hydrolyzed poly(glycidyl methacrylate) suspensions

 Electrorheological behavior of silicone oil suspensions of macroporous poly[(glycidyl methacrylate)-co-(ethylene dimethacrylate)]) (0.60 : 0.40 w) hydrolyzed to various degrees was investigated. Polarizability of particles expressed by the particle dipole coefficient and, consequently, pseudoplasticity of the system at low shear rates after application of an external electric field steeply increased with the hydrolysis degree of the copolymer. As the size and shape of particles remain unchanged during hydrolysis, a series of model suspensions with the same hydrodynamic properties (Newtonian or slightly pseudoplastic when no electric field was applied) but with different intensity of the electrorheological effect could be prepared. Under these conditions, the use of Mason number failed to correlate the apparent viscosity of suspensions of particles with different polarizability in the electric field. On the other hand, when polarizability of particles of a suspension system changes due to a higher temperature, a single curve in the plot of apparent viscosity vs. the Mason number could be obtained. Received: 17 February 1998 Accepted: 8 May 1998