Pairwise frictional profile between particles determines discontinuous shear thickening transition in non-colloidal suspensions

Jean Comtet, Guillaume Chatté, Antoine Niguès, Lydéric Bocquet, Alessandro Siria and Annie Colin ()
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Jean Comtet: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UMR CNRS 8550, PSL Research University
Guillaume Chatté: ESPCI Paris, Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matière Molle, CNRS UMR 7615 10, PSL Research University
Antoine Niguès: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UMR CNRS 8550, PSL Research University
Lydéric Bocquet: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UMR CNRS 8550, PSL Research University
Alessandro Siria: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UMR CNRS 8550, PSL Research University
Annie Colin: ESPCI Paris, Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matière Molle, CNRS UMR 7615 10, PSL Research University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The process by which sheared suspensions go through a dramatic change in viscosity is known as discontinuous shear thickening. Although well-characterized on the macroscale, the microscopic mechanisms at play in this transition are still poorly understood. Here, by developing new experimental procedures based on quartz-tuning fork atomic force microscopy, we measure the pairwise frictional profile between approaching pairs of polyvinyl chloride and cornstarch particles in solvent. We report a clear transition from a low-friction regime, where pairs of particles support a finite normal load, while interacting purely hydrodynamically, to a high-friction regime characterized by hard repulsive contact between the particles and sliding friction. Critically, we show that the normal stress needed to enter the frictional regime at nanoscale matches the critical stress at which shear thickening occurs for macroscopic suspensions. Our experiments bridge nano and macroscales and provide long needed demonstration of the role of frictional forces in discontinuous shear thickening.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15633

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