Modeling the viscoelastic response of suspension of particles in polymer solution: The effect of polymer-particle interactions

A conceptual model is proposed for the viscoelastic response of dilute polymer solutions containing well-dispersed low volume fraction spherical particles. The equilibrium structure of the reversibly adsorbed polymer layer on the particle surface was characterized by a scaling theory. The dynamics of the polymer chains were studied by a Maxwell type kinetic model. At the limit of small particle size, our results show that the monomer-filler energetic affinity, particle volume fraction and surface friction strongly affect the overall viscoelastic response of the filled solutions and lead to unusual viscoelastic properties that have been observed experimentally. These properties include a dramatic increase in shear viscosity, intense shear thinning, and solid-like behavior at low frequency domains.