Resolving Salt-Induced Agglomeration of Laponite Suspensions Using X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 101
• Main Authors: Mohammed, Sohaib, Liu, Meishen, Zhang, Qingteng, Narayanan, Suresh, Zhang, Fan, Gadikota, Greeshma
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Aging; CaCl2; Calcium chloride; Calcium ions; Cations; Cesium ions; Clay; CsCl; Enhanced oil recovery; Hydrogels; laponite; Magnesium chloride; MgCl2; Molecular dynamics; Photon correlation spectroscopy; Photons; Predictive control; Simulation; Simulation methods; Smectite; Spectrum analysis; Viscoelastic fluids; XPCS; XPCS; self-assembly; MgCl2; CaCl2; MD; CsCl; laponite; gel formation

Linking the physics of the relaxation behavior of viscoelastic fluids as they form arrested gel states to the underlying chemical changes is essential for developing predictive controls on the properties of the suspensions. In this study, 3 wt.% laponite suspensions are studied as model systems to p...