Rheological Characterization of Carbopol® Dispersions in Water and in Water/Glycerol Solutions

The influence of the solvent type on the rheological properties of Carbopol (R) NF 980 dispersions in water and in water/glycerol solutions is investigated. The material formulation, preparation procedure, common experimental challenges and artifact sources are all addressed. Transient and steady-state experiments were performed. For both solvent types, a clearly thixotropic behavior occurs slightly above the yield stress, where the avalanche effect is observed. For larger stresses, thixotropy is always negligible. Among other findings, it is observed that, for a given Carbopol concentration, the dispersion in the more viscous solvent possesses a lower yield stress and moduli, a larger power-law index, and a longer time to reach steady state.