1018 Langmuir 1994,10, 1018-1022

Effect of Surfactant Adsorption on the Polymer Bridging

and Rheological Properties of Suspensions
Yasufumi Otsubo
Department of Image Science, Faculty of Engineering, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho 1-33,
Inage-ku, Chiba-shi 263, Japan
Received June 28, 1993. In Final Form: December 27,199P

The steady-shear viscosity and dynamic viscoelasticity were measured for suspensions flocculated by
polymer bridging. Also, the sedimentation and adsorption experiments were carried out to understand
the bridging conformation. For the suspensions in which the particlesare connected by irreversiblebridges,
the flow is shear-thinning over a wide range of shear rates. The addition of surfactant causes a decrease
in the fraction of segments of the polymer coil adsorbed in trains, and hence the adsorption-desorption
of the polymer reversibly takes place. Since the bridges are constantly forming, breaking, and re-forming
in a quiescent state, the flow becomes Newtonian. With increasing surfactant, the viscosity decreases at
low shear rates and increases at high shear rates. The flow profiles are discussed in relation to the bridging
conformation.

Introduction flow at moderate shear rates, and shear-thinning flow a t

In polymer adsorption at a solid-liquid interface, only
a portion of segments of the polymer chain are in direct
contact with the surface, while the rest extend away from
the surfaceinto the solution. However,polymer adsorption
is considered to be irreversible, because the polymer chain
may attach to the surface at many points and not be able
to desorb simultaneously from all sites. When a polymer
chain adsorbs onto more than two particles to bind them
together, the effect is referred to as polymer bridging.'s2
Flocculation of colloidal suspensions by the bridging
mechanism occurs under conditions where the polymer
chain is long enough to adsorb onto two particles and has
a very strong affinity for the particle surface. Since the
desorption of polymer chains hardly takes place under
ordinary conditions, the bridging flocculationis essentially
irreversible. Therefore, the suspensions of particles with
diameters comparable to the loop length of the adsorbed
polymer show an irreversible increase in viscosity due to
shear-induced bridging flocculation.= In this process,
the particle-particle bond is formed by adsorption of the
loop extending from one particle to a particle in the other
floc during collision in shear flow. The bridge between
particles is not broken down by thermal energy. Hence,
the suspensions flocculated by polymer bridging show
elastic responses at very low frequencies or plastic
responses with infinite relaxation time.-
When the polymer chains do not have a very strong
affinity for the surface, the fraction of loops which extend
into the solution increases at the expense of trains which
are in direct contact with the surface. Two particles can
be bridged by a flexiblepolymer coil. In a previous paper?
it has been reported that the suspensions in which the
flexible bridges construct deformable and highly elastic
flocs showunique viscosity profilesconsistingof Newtonian
viscosity in the limit of zero shear rate, shear-thickening
~
@Abstractpublished in Advance A C S Abstracts, March 1,1994.
(1)Iler, R. K . J. Colloid Interface Sci. 1971,37, 364.
(2)Fleer, G.J.; Lyklema, J. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 1974,46,1.
(3)Otaubo, Y.;Umeya, K . J. Rheol. 1984,28,95.
(4)Otaubo, Y.;Watanabe, K . J.Colloid Interface Sci. 1989,133,491.
(5)Otaubo, Y.;Watanabe, K . Colloids Surf. 1990,50, 341.
(6)Otaubo, Y.;Watanabe, K . J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 1987,
24,265.
(7)Otaubo, Y.;Watanabe, K . Colloids Surf. 1989,41,303,
(8)Otaubo, Y.Langmuir 1990,6,114.
(9)Otaubo, Y.Langmuir 1992,8,2336.
high shear rates. The Newtonian viscosity implies that
the polymer bridges are constantlyforming, breaking, and
re-forming in a quiescent state. The adsorption-desorp-
tion process reversibly occurs by Brownian motion. At
shear rates where the time scale of coil extension is much
longer than that of adsorption, the flow is Newtonian. As
the shear rate is increased, the coils are subjected to rapid
extension before the desorption. The shear-thickening
flow may be attributed to the restoring forces of extended
bridges.
In suspensions flocculated by polymer bridging, the
reversible bridging results in Newtonian flow and ir-
reversible bridging in shear-thinning flow a t low shear
rates. It must be stressed that the irreversibility arises
from the multipoint attachment to the surface. The most
important factor controlling the flow behavior of suspen-
sions is the adsorption-desorption kinetics which in turn
is closely associatedwith the fraction of segmentsadsorbed
in trains. In other words the adsorption affmity determines
the rheology of suspensions. An associativepolymer which
consists of a nonadsorbing water-soluble backbone with
grafted hydrocarbon arms adsorbs onto the particles at
hydrophobic points along the chain. In the limit of very
weak adsorbing groups, the associative polymer behaves
as a nonadsorbing polymer. With many hydrophobes, a
molecule behaves as an adsorbing polymer and strong
adsorption results in bridging attraction. The associative
polymers may induce different interactions between
particles, depending on the number of hydrophobes and
adsorption strength. A statistical mechanical theory has
been developed to predict the flocculation or phase
separation of a colloidal suspension by an associative
polymer.lOJ1 The flocculation processes by depletion and
bridgingmechanisms are explained through the interaction
potentials between two flat plates in a polymer solution.
In the present study, the adsorption affmityof a polymer
for the particle surface is controlled by addition of
surfactant. The effects of surfactant on the rheological
properties of suspensionsflocculated by polymer bridging
(10)Santore, M.M.;Russel, W. B.; Pmd'homme, R. K . Macromolecules
1989,22,1317.
(11)Santore, M.M.;Russel, W. B.;Prud'homme,R. K.Macromoleculea
1990,23,3821.

0743-7463/94/2410-1018$04.50/00 1994 American Chemical Society

Effect of Surfactant Adsorption on Suspensions Langmuir, Vol. 10, No.4, 1994 1019

are investigated in relation to the conformation of the

adsorbed polymer.
Materials and Methods
Materials. The suspensionswere compoeed of styrenemethyl
acrylate copolymer particles, poly(viny1alcohol), Triton X-100,
and water. The pH value was adjusted with hydrochloric acid
to pH 2. The particles were formed by emulsioncopolymerization
with a styrene/methyl acrylate monomer ratio of 4/60. The
diameter and density of copolymer particles were 170 nm and
1.13 X 103 kg ma, respectively. Triton X-100surfactant (Union
Carbide Co.) is an ethoxylated octylphenol. Poly(viny1alcohol) 21 lo-'
(PVA) with a molecular weight of M, = 1 X 106 was obtained .-Y,
L

from Kanto Chemical Co., and was used as received. The mean 0
V
size of an isolated polymer chain in solution may be determined .? 10-2
from the intrinsic viscosity [ q ] with the equation12 >

[VIM, = 63/2@(S2)s/2 (1)

IO-^ -
where ( 9)1/2 is the root-mean-square radius of gyration and @ IO-^ IO-' loo 10' lo2 lo3
is the Flory-Fox parameter. The intrinsic viscosity of PVA was
1.2 dL g1in aqueous solution at pH 2,and the radius of gyration Shear rate (s-')
was 14.8 nm. The sample suspensions were prepared at Figure 1. Shear rate dependence of viscosity for 30 vol %
concentrations up to 30% by volume. The PVA and surfactant suspensions in solutions of PVA at different concentrations: 0
concentrations were in the range of 0-1.5% by weight based on (0);0.3 ((3); 0.5 (e);
0.7 (0);1.0 (e);1.5 wt % (0).
water. The rheological measurements were carried out for the
suspensions stored at 25 "C for 1 day. Aging did not have a
1
significant effect on the rheological behavior unlm the period
exceeded 1 month.
Met hods. Steady-flow and dynamic viscoelastic properties
-VI
1

were measured using a Couette geometry on a Rheometrics RFS

I1 rheometer. The diameters of the bob and cup were 30 and 32
mm,respectively. The immersion length of the bob was 30 mm.
The measuring shear rates y were from 1.7 X le2to 2.7 X 102 0
8-1 in steady-flow measurements. The angular frequencies w were IO0
from 2.5 X le2 to 1.0 X 102s-l,and the strain was 0.05 in dynamic
measurements.
Adsorption of PVA on the particle surface was measured with 'S 10-1
15 vol % suspensions which contained surfactant and sufficient 0
polymer. To determine the concentration of nonadsorbed u
polymer, the particles or flocs were separated by centrifugation >
-
ln

at 2000g, and the viscosity of the supernatant solution was

measured. For Suspensions which contained surfactant at high
concentrations, the supernatant solutions were slightly turbid.
On the assumption that the supernatant solution has the same
mixing ratio of surfactant and polymer as the initial solution, the
amount of adsorbed polymer was calculated from the residual
polymer concentration. The fiial sedimentation volume gives
the concentration of the dispersed phase, from which the surface
separation between particles can be estimated.
Results and Discussion
Rheological Behavior. Figure 1shows the shear rate
dependence of viscosity for 30 vol % suspensions in
solutions containing PVA at different concentrations.In
the absence of PVA, the suspension is electrostatically
stabilizedand the flow can be approximated as Newtonian.
The addition of PVA causes an increase in the viscosity
over the entire range of shear rates. Since the viscosity
enhancement is large at low shear rates, the flow of
suspensions with PVA is shear-thinning. Especially the
suspensions containing PVA at concentrations above 0.7
wt. % show nearly plastic responses at low shear rates.
The appearance of plasticity is coupled with the three-
dimensional network of particles connected by polymer
bridges. The most important feature is that, with
increasingPVA concentration,the viscosity increasesand
the shear-thinning behavior becomes more striking.
Figure 2 shows the effect of surfactant concentrationon
the viscosity behavior of 30 vol % suspensions in a 0.7 wt
(12)Flory, P.J. Principle of Polymer Chemietry; Comell University
Press: Ithaca, NY,1963.
IO-^ 10-l loo IO' lo2 lo3
Shear rate Y (s-' )
Figure 2. Shear rate dependence of viscosity for 30 vol %
suspensions in 0.7 w t % PVA solution containing surfactant at
different concentrations: 0 (0);0.5 ((3); 0.7 (e);1.0 (0)1
;.5 (e);
2.0 w t % (0).
% PVA solution. When the particles are covered with
surfactant molecules,the polymer adsorptioncannotoccur.
With increasingsurfacecoverageof particles by surfactant
adsorption, the number of bridges connecting particles
decreases and the concentration of the nonadsorbed
polymer increases. Therefore,one can expect on the basis
of the results in Figure 1that the addition of surfactant
reduces the viscosity over the entire range of shear rates.
However, the effect of surfactant on the viscosity behavior
is very complicated. At a surfactant concentration of 0.5
wt % , the suspension shows a higher viscosity than that
without surfactant. It seems likely that the addition of
a small amount of surfactant enhances the flocculating
power of PVA. Further increase in surfactant concen-
tration causes a viscosity decrease at low shear rates and
an increase at high shear rates. The surfactant influences
the viscosity in two opposingways, dependingon the shear
rate. In the range of 0.5-1.5 wt 5% ,the viscosity behavior
changes from shear-thinning to Newtonian profiles with
increasing surfactant concentration. Moreover, it is
interesting to note that the viscosity at a shear rate of 7
X 10-1 5-1 is constant irrespective of the surfactant
concentration. When the surfactant concentration is
1020 Langmuir, Vol. 10, No.4, 1994 Otsubo

IO'

4
5 IO0

0,
01
4
b 1.-,

Angular frequency (s-')

w
Figure 3. Frequency dependence of the storage modulus for 30
vol % suspensions in 0.1 wt % PVA solutions containing
surfactant at different concentrations: 0 (0);0.5(0);0.7 (e);
1.0
(0);1.5 wt % (e).
';;; I O 2
I I I I I different concentrations: 0 (0);0.5 (@); 1.0 (0);1.5 wt % (e).
5
(3
IO'
m
-
J Suspensions is shear-thinning. The Newtonian flow ob-
:
E
I00
I 1 1 I
10-2 10-1 I00 IO' IO2
Angular frequency w (s-' )
Figure 4. Frequency dependence of the loss modulus for 30 vol
% suspensions in 0.7 wt % PVA solutions containing surfactant
at different concentrations: 0 (0);0.5 (0);0.7 (e);1.0 ( 0 ) ;1.5
wt % (0).
increased to 2.0wt % ,the viscosityis drastically decreased
and the flow becomes almost Newtonian. It is considered
that the suspensionis dispersedto noninteractingparticles.
Under conditionswhere the partial coverageof the surface
with surfactant takes place, the rheological behavior
stronglydepends on the surfactant concentrationbecause
the bridging conformation of PVA can be affected by
surfactant adsorption.
Figure 3 and 4 showthe frequency dependenceof storage
and loss moduli, respectively,for 30 vol % suspensions in
0.7 w t % PVA solutions containing surfactant at different
concentrations. In ordinary flocculated suspensions dis-
persed in polymer solutions,the viscoelastic function show
a plateau at low frequencies.1s16 The plateau has been
considered to be a manifestation of the network structure
of particles. The network structureprovides an additional
relaxationprocess. The suspensionscontainingsurfactant
at low concentrations clearly show the plateau region.
However, €or the suspension with 1.5 w t 5% surfactant,
both the moduli rapidly decrease with decreasing fre-
quency. The floc structure may also be constructed over
the system because the viscosity is considerably higher
when compared to that of the noninteracting suspension.
The lack of a plateau in the frequency-dependentcurve
is attributed to the rapid relaxation process.
In general,bridging flocculationis essentiallyirreversible
and the polymer bridge is not broken down in a quiescent
(13) Onogi, 9.; Mataumoto, T.;Warashina, Y. Trans. SOC.Rheol. 1973,
17, 176.
(14) Mataumoto, T.;Hitomi, C.; Onogi, 9. Trans. SOC.
Rheol. 1976,19,
641.
(16) Umeya, K.; Otaubo, Y. J . Rheol. 1980,24, 239.
I 1 1 I I
10-3
10-1 100 IO' IO* lo3
Shear rate ? (5-' 1
Figure 5. Shear rate dependence of viscosity for 20 vol 9%
suspensions in 1.0 w t 5% PVA solutionscontaining surfactant at
state. Since the structural breakdown is progressively
induced with increasingshear rate, the flow of flocculated
served for the Suspension with 1.5 w t % surfactant
indicatesthat the polymer bridges which make up the floc
structure are constantly forming,breaking,and re-forming
by Brownian motion. The adsorption-desorption of the
polymer on the particles reversibly takes place. The
flocculationby reversiblebridging may be an equilibrium
phenomenon.
Figure 5 shows the effect of surfactant concentrationon
the viscosity behavior of 20 vol % suspensions in a 1.0 w t
7% PVA solution. Without surfactant, the flow curve is
very similar to that of a 30 vol % suspension in a 0.7 w t
% PVA solution. However, the change of the viscosity
profile from shear-thinningto Newtonian flow is induced
at low surfactant concentrationsfor 20 vol % suspensions
in spite of a higher PVA concentration. The reversible
adsorption-desorptionprocess resulting in the Newtonian
flow at low shear rates is achieved at a surfactant
concentration of 1.0 wt %. Since the adsorption of a
polymer chain extending from one particle to the other
particle is less probable in dilute suspensions,the amount
of surfactant required for high dispersibility can be low.
The concentration of nonadsorbed polymer is relatively
high in dilute suspensions at a given surfactant concen-
tration. The suapensiof with 1.0 w t 7% surfactant shows
shear-thickeningbehavior in the shear rate range of 10'
to 4 X 10' s-l. In this suspension, the particles may be
connectedby highly deformablebridges. Whensubjected
to high shear fields, the flexible bridges are rapidly
extended in the network and the entropy is decreased.
The restoring forces of extended bridges provide additional
resistance to flow. The shear-thickening flow appears
when the time scale of extension is shorter than that of
desorption. However, the very high extension causes the
desorption of polymer coils from the particles. Because
of the breakdown of bridges, the flow is shear-thinning at
very high shear rates. The relaxation of extended bridges
due to the desorption in the shear field is responsible for
the shear-thickeningflow. The onset of shear-thickening
can be discussed in connectionwith the relaxation process
of polymer chains. From the prediction by molecular
network theories, the shefv-thickeningflow occur^ when
the Weissenberg number 7x1, which measures the relative
strength of the shear fields, approaches unity. Here A1
denotes a characteristic relaxation time. It has been
Effect of Surfactant Adsorption on Suspensions
- IO’ I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
-
VI
V
4
I 1
.-
> 1g-2
‘ I I I
IO-^ 10-1 loo 10’ IO*
Shear rate f (s:.! )
Figure 7. Effect of particle concerltration on the viscosity
behavior of suspensions containing0.7 wt % PVA and 1.0wt %
Surfactant: 20 (0);25 (@I; 30 vol % (0).
shown in previous papersgJ8 that the suspensions floc-
culated by reversible bridging show shear-thickening flow
at high shear rates and the Weisaenberg number at the
maximum viscosity is about 1. The time scale of forced
desorption is estimated as 0.03 s for the suspension with
0.1 wt 5% surfactant. The mixing ratio of PVA and
surfactant determines the relaxation time of a bridge.
Figure 6 shows the effect of the PVA concentration on
the viscosity behavior of 20 vol % suspensions with 1.0 wt
% surfactant. Although the viscosity increases withPVA
concentration, the flow is Newtonian at low shear rates.
The adsorption-desorption process is still reversible. The
decrease of the shear rate at the maximum viscosity in the
shear-thickeningregion reflects an increase in the lifetime
of the bridge.
Figure 7 shows the effect of the particle concentration
on the viscosity behavior of suspensions containing 0.7 wt
% PVA and 1.0wt % surfactant. The 20 vol 5% suspension
is regarded as noninteracting, while the 25 and 30 vol 7%
suspensions are regarded as flocculated by reversible
bridging. Except at low shear rates, a significant difference
is not seen for the viscosity behavior of flocculated
suspensions. It has been accepted that the viscosity of
the suspension at a constant shear rate monotonously
increases with an increase in particle concentration. In
suspensions flocculated by bridging, the polymer concen-
tration strongly influences the floc structure and viscosity
unless the complete coverage of the particle surface takes
place. At high particle concentrations, all polymer chains
(16)Otsubo, Y.J. Rheol. 1993,37,799.
(17) Rowland, F. W.; Eirich, F. R.J. Polym. Sci. A-1 1966, 4, 2401.
(18) Clark, A. T.;
Robb, I. D.; Smith, R.J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans.
1, 1976, 72, 1489.
Langmuir, Vol. 10, No. 4, 1994 1021
1
I
I I
aul
Q
Q o I 0
V
m
c
L.
;
0 0.5 1.0 I .5
Surfactant concentration ( w t % )
Figure 8. Adeorbance of PVA and surface separation plotted
against the surfactant concentration.
adsorb onto particles and efficiently make bridges when
the polymer concentration is low. It is considered that
two adjacent particles are bridged in dilute suspensions
which contain sufficient polymer. In such suspensions,
all adsorbed coils do not always act as effective bridges.
The important factor closely related to the floc formation
process is the concentration ratio of particle to polymer.
The similar viscosity behavior observed for 25 and 30 vol
% suspensions implies that the number of bridges per
unit volume is constant. In reversible bridging flocculation,
the particles in flocs are cooperatively rearranged by
Brownian motion. Since all the adsorbed coils effectively
lo3 act as bonds connecting particles in the 25 vol 5%
suspension, the increase in the particle concentration does
not necessarily lead to further development of the floc
structure. It looks as if the degree of flocculation does not
reach the saturation in the 30 vol % suspension.
Relation between Rheological Behavior and
Bridging Conformation. From the rheological data, the
surfactant adsorption on the particle surfaces can reduce
the number of adsorption points of one polymer chain.
With increasing surfactant concentration, the permanent
bonds by irreversible bridging are gradually converted into
the temporary bonds by reversible bridging. To under-
stand the bridging conformation, the sedimentation and
adsorption experiments were carried out for 15 vol 7%
suspensions containing 1.0 wt % PVA and surfactant at
different concentrations. When the interactions between
the surfactant and polymer are strong, the coil confor-
mation is varied even in solution. The radius of gyration
of the isolated coil was in the range of 14.5-15.5 nm in the
presence of surfactant. Since the value is almost constant
at surfactant concentrations below 1.5wt % ,the addition
of surfactant may not influence the coil conformation.
For the suspensions without PVA and surfactant, the
particle concentration in the sediment is 63.5 vol % and
reasonably agrees with the maximum random sphere
packing. Therefore,this value may be critical for touching
particles. The sediment of suspensions which contain
sufficient adsorbing polymer gives the floc structure with
fully developed bridging at the maximum particle con-
centration. Figure 8 shows the adsorbance of PVA and
surface separation plotted against the surfactant concen-
tration. The surface separation H which corresponds to
the bridging distance of adsorbed polymer in flocculated
suspensionsis determinedfrom the mean distancebetween
particle surfaces with the equation
H = d((CdC)1’3 - 1) (2)
0 C, the critical
where d is the particle diameter ( ~ 1 7nm),
particle concentration (=63.5vol%), and C the particle
1022 Langmuir, Vol. 10, No. 4,1994 Oteubo
concentration in the sedimentof the suspension containing
surfactant and PVA. An increase in the surfactant
concentration causes a decrease in the adsorbance of PVA,

)I
because the surfactant molecules have a stronger affinity
for the particle surface. On the other hand, withincreasing
surfactant, the surface separation increases at first, passes
a maximum, and then decreases.
In polymer adsorption on flat surfaces,the thickness of
the adsorbed polymer layer is roughly of the same order
as the radius of gyration of an isolated polymer chain. The
loop size and hence the adsorbed layer thickness were
found to decrease as the solvent changed from a good
solvent to one under 6-~0nditions.~~J~ However, if the
polymer chains have a strong affinity for the surface, the
contraction of the coil is induced at the surface. The layer
thickness varies with polymersurface interactions. The
addition of surfactant causes a reduction of the fraction
of segments of an adsorbed polymer in trains, leading to
an increase in the adsorbed layer thickness. Therefore,
the bridging distance is increased by surfactant adsorption.
The maximum bridging distance is comparable to the
diameter of an isolated polymer chain in solution. As
expected from the rheological data, the particles can be
‘M
bridged by flexible coils in the suspensions with 1.0 wt %
PVA and 0.5 wt % surfactant. When the fraction of (e)
Figure 9. Conformation models of polymer bridging: (A)
segments adsorbed in trains is decreased, the adsorption- irreversible bridging; (B) reversible bridging.
desorption reversibly occurs and the bridges are constantly
forming and breaking by thermal energy. The polymer bridges by surfactant adsorption shifts the shear-thinning
coils have the equilibrium conformation. Further increase region toward the low shear rate side. When the surfactant
in surfactant enhances the desorption of PVA. Nonad- adsorption gives rise to the full conversion of permanent
sorbed polymer chains do not contribute to the particle- bridges into temporary ones, the shear-thinning region
particle interactions, so the particles can approach to a disappears. Finally, the high coverage of the surface by
distance of twice the surfactant layer. On the basis of the surfactant drastically reduces the viscosity level in the
sediment structure, schematic pictures of the bridging entire range of shear rate, because the particles can be
conformation are shown in Figure 9 for an explanation of completely and independently dispersed.
the relation between the reversibility of the bridge and
particle-particle interactions. Conclusions
At the intermediate concentrations of surfactant, the The conformation of the polymer bridge can be changed
flocsare constructed by temporarybridges due to reversible by additions of a small amount of surfactant. When the
adsorption and permanent bridges by irreversible ad- fraction of segmentsof the polymer adsorbed in trains is
sorption. The permanent bridges are broken down on the decreased by surfactant adsorption, the adsorption-
application of shear, whereas the temporary bridges are desorption of the polymer reversibly occurs and the bridges
constantly forming and breaking in a quiescent state. The are constantly forming, breaking, and reforming by
former is responsiblefor shear-thinning flow and the latter Brownian motion. The permanent bridges by irreversible
for Newtonian flow. Therefore, the overall flow curve is adsorption are broken down on the application of shear,
characterized as a combinationof two flow profiles due to so the suspensions without surfactant are shear-thinning
different mechanisms. For example, the 30 vol % sus- over a wide range of shear rates. On the other hand, for
pension containing 0.7wt % PVA and 0.7wt % surfactant the suspensions in which the flocs are constructed through
is shear-thinning at low shear rates and nearly Newtonian temporary bridges by reversible adsorption, the flow is
in the range of loo-lo2s-l (Figure 2). When the shear rate Newtonian at low shear rates and the viscoelasticfunction
is increased above loo s-l, the permanent bridges are rapidly decreases with decreasingfrequency,showingrapid
completely broken down and the particles are connected relaxation. With increasing surfactant, the viscosity
only by the temporary bridges. The temporary bridges decreases at low shear rates and increases at high shear
are forced to desorb at high shear rates above lo2s-l. Since rates. Under conditions where the particle coverage of
the shear does not affect the reversible adsorption- the surface with surfactant and polymer takes place, the
desorption process at intermediate shear rates, the flow flow behavior can be explained by a combination of two
is Newtonian. The decrease in the fraction of permanent bridging mechanisms.