Effect of associating polymer on the dispersion stability and rheology of suspensions

Associating polymers are hydrophilic long-chain molecules to which a small amount of hydrophobic groups (hydrophobes) is incorporated. In aqueous solution, the association interactions result in the formation of three-dimensional network through flowerlike micelles at high concentrations. In colloidal suspensions, the associating polymers act as flocculants by bridging mechanism. The rheological properties of suspensions flocculated by associating polymers end-capped with hydrophobes are studied in relation to the bridging conformation. At low polymer concentrations, the polymer chains effectively form bridges between particles by multichain association. The suspensions are highly flocculated and show typical viscoelastic responses. When the polymer concentration is increased above the adsorbance at saturation, the excess polymer chains remaining in the solution phase build up three-dimensional network by associating interactions. Since the presence of particles does not significantly influence the network structures in the medium, the relative viscosity, which gives a measure of the degree of flocculation is decreased with increasing polymer concentration. The bridging conformation and flocculation level vary strongly depending on the polymer concentrations.