Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issus aims to provide a good forum for scientists and engineers to share and discuss their pioneering original findings or insightful reviews on understanding the correlation between (a) macroscopic flow behavior and (b) microscopic physico-chemical properties of concentrated colloidal particle suspensions. Reports on characterization research coupling those two aspects towards the enhancement of process and application of a concentrated colloidal suspension are particularly welcome [1].

Proper characterization of concentrated colloidal particle suspensions is still challenging task since majority of characterization methods usually require a dilute suspension of which analysis could overlook potential issues associated with enhanced particle-particle interaction leading particle coagulations and thus increasing suspension viscosity and facing difficulty in handling such a suspension [2].

Some potential contributions are listed below under “Topics”. One of them can be coupling suspension rheology and colloidal forces to further understand the influence of microscopic particle-particle interactions on the macroscopic suspension behavior under different chemical environments. Such correlation has been reported in many different aspects while there are so many research gaps even in a focused area of this coupling, e.g., utilization of suspension yield stress [3]. At the same time, understanding the macroscopic behavior of a concentrated suspension is of great importance in scientific and engineering point of views since processing and application of colloidal particle suspensions are vital of our modern society, including daily life products (e.g., food, cosmetics) and advanced technologies (e.g., batteries).

Topics

-Characterization

• Suspension rheology
• Physical/physico-chemical properties (e.g. particle surface charge, particle size, wetting, specific surface area, porosity, permeability/percolation)
• Flow visualization (e.g. MRI velocimetry)
• In-situ measurement (e.g. rheo-SANS, rheo-SAXS, rheo-NMR)
• Non-destructive measurement (e.g. neutrons, X-rays)
• Operando measurement
• Imaging (e.g. SEM, TEM, tomography/radiography)
• Surface analysis (e.g. AFM, STM, XPS, XAFS, reflectometry, mass spectrometry)

-Physical Chemistry

• Concentrated colloidal suspension
• Colloidal forces (e.g. DLVO forces, non-DLVO forces)
• Chemical environment (e.g. salt/electrolyte, surfactant, pH)
• Heterogeneous particle surface

-Process and functional materials

• Mechanical process (e.g. thickening/sedimentation, filtration, agitation)
• Separation (e.g. flotation, wet magnetic separation)
• Saving/recycling water
• Waste treatment/management (e.g. recycling electronic waste, nuclear waste treatment)
• Functional material synthesis in wet environment and its characterization (e.g. magnetic fluid, electrorheological fluid, self-assembly material)
• Application/handling of nanoparticle suspensions/dispersions (e.g. centrifugation, coating, deposition)

-Fluid dynamics and applied mechanics

• Particle-laden flow
• Flow diagnosis
• Flow control
• Flow behavior under external field application (e.g. mechanical agitation, electric field application)
• Non-Newtonian fluid
• Complex fluid
• Thixotropy

Thank you very much!

References

[1] Otsuki, A.; Dodbiba, G.; Fujita, T. Two-Liquid Flotation for Separating Mixtures of Ultra-Fine Rare Earth Fluorescent Powders for Material Recycling—A Review. Colloids Interfaces 2018, 2, 7.

[2] Otsuki, A.; Bryant, G. Characterization of the interactions within fine particle mixtures in highly concentrated suspensions for advanced particle processing. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 2015, 226, 37–43.

[3] Otsuki, A. Coupling colloidal forces with yield stress of charged inorganic particle suspension: A review. Electrophoresis 2018, 39, 690–701.

Prof. Akira Otsuki
Guest Editor

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• Characterization
• Physical Chemistry
• Process and functional materials
• Flow dynamics
• Applied Mechanics