Rheological behavior of cellulose nanowhisker suspension under magnetic field

• The influence of a magnetic field on the rheology of cellulose nanowhisker suspension was investigated.
• The application of the magnetic field leads to an increase in shear viscosity and viscoelastic properties such as the storage and loss moduli.
• The morphology of CNWs was analyzed by using polarized optical microscopy (POM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

We investigated the influence of a magnetic field on the rheology of cellulose nanowhisker (CNW) suspension. The morphology of CNWs was analyzed by using polarized optical microscopy (POM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The findings show that the application of the magnetic field leads to an increase in shear viscosity and viscoelastic properties such as the storage and loss moduli. A mesoscale constitutive model was adopted to provide better understanding of the effect of particle concentration on the orientation of CNWs. As the concentration increases, the steric interaction between particles becomes significant and the effect of the applied magnetic field on the internal structure of the CNW suspension was reduced. In addition, the size distribution of CNWs was characterized using a light scattering method.