HPC/H2O/H3PO4 tertiary system: a rheological study

This study characterizes the rheological behavior of the HPC/H₂O/H₃PO₄ tertiary system based on the 3-D phase diagram that was obtained in our earlier work. The effects of frequency, temperature, HPC concentration, liquid composition (H₂O/H₃PO₄ ratio), and phase status on the rheological parameters were thoroughly investigated. The most useful parameter for distinguishing the isotropic (I) and liquid crystalline (LC) phases was tanδ. Agglomeration in the cloudy suspension (CS) phase at high temperature was too severe to allow a smooth flow, so the tanδ and η* represented significant damping, which is a good indicator of the presence of the CS phase. With an increase in temperature, the viscosity of the flow with a single homogeneous phase—either the I phase or the LC phase—or a combination of two homogeneous phases in sequence, obeyed the Arrhenius model. In contrast, once the temperature rose to that of the formation of heterogeneous CS phase, the Arrhenius model was no longer valid. The activation energy E of the I phase was greater, and more sensitive to the HPC concentration, than the LC phase. Finally, the concentration of the sol/gel transition (SGT) declined as temperature increased but increased as the H₃PO₄ content increased. Furthermore, this tertiary system exhibited no clear order of the onsets of the formations of SGT phase, the LC phase, and the CS phase as HPC concentration was varied.