Sol-gel synthesis of titanium dioxide and titanium dioxide-hydroxypropyl cellulose hybrid material and electrorheological characteristics of their dispersions in poly(dimethylsiloxane)

Particles of titanium dioxide and titanium dioxide-hydroxypropyl cellulose organic-inorganic composite are synthesized by the sol-gel method. The effects of an electric field on the shear stress, viscosity, tensile and compression stresses of dispersions of titanium dioxide, the hybrid material, and titanium dioxide-hydroxypropyl cellulose mechanical mixture are investigated. It is established that the value of the electrorheological effect observed for hybrid material dispersions is higher than that for dispersions of titanium dioxide and mechanical mixtures of the materials.