Electro-rheological properties of montmorillonite particles coated with titania in methyl silicone oil

Montmorillonite particles coated with titania were synthesized by means of a sol-gel method to use with electro-rheological material. The characteristics of these composite particles were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The electro-rheological (ER) effects were measured after these particles were mixed with methyl-silicon oil by 20% and 30% (weight percent). The experimental results show that these montmorillonite/titania particles exhibit a marked ER effect compared with pure montmorillonite particles under a DC electric field. The highest static yield stress is up to 4.28 kPa, which is an increase of about 3.13 kPa over that of untreated montmorillonite powder under the electrical field strength of 3.2 kV/mm at room temperature.