Divergence in the low shear viscosity for Brownian hard-sphere dispersions: At random close packing or the glass transition?

Models, theories, and simulations for the low shear viscosity of Brownian, hard-sphere dispersions are examined and evaluated against literature data. Hydrodynamic and thermodynamic contributions are explicitly treated and the volume fraction dependence of the experimental data is validated against the high frequency or high shear viscosity. A good description of the data is realized by a new, semiempirical model based on mode coupling theory, where phi(m) = phi(g) = 0.57, supporting dynamical arrest at the ideal glass transition. (C) 2013 The Society of Rheology.