THE CONDUCTIVE PROPERTIES OF THE ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL SUSPENSIONS BASEDON DIHYDROXYPROPYL CHITOSAN PARTICLES

In this article, the electrorheological (ER) properties of the suspens ions containing dihydroxypropyl chitosan particles in silicon oil with glycerin as activator are reported. In particular, the conductive pro perty of these suspensions and its influencing factors, such as activa tor content, field strength, concentration, and shear rate, are invest igated experimentally. The experimental results show that the suspensi on can display significant ER effects under the applied electric field strength. An optimum activator content exists, and the suspension's c urrent density increases with particle concentration, activator conten t, and field strength, while it decreases with shear rate. (C) 1998 Jo hn Wiley & Sons, Inc.