Rheological behavior of aqueous organosilicone resin emulsion stabilized by colloidal nanosilica particles.

Inorganic colloidal particles were usually used to stabilize the emulsions of small molecular compounds. In this paper, the stable aqueous emulsions of organosilicone resin were prepared by emulsification technique using colloidal nanosilica particles combined with very small amount of emulsifiers. The effects of the silica size and concentration on the rheological behavior of the emulsion were investigated by steady-state and transient rheological measurements and dynamic modulus measurement. It was found that all emulsions containing colloidal silica particles exhibited shear-thinning behavior. The smaller the colloidal silica size was or the more the silica content was, the greater the storage modulus was at low strain amplitude, indicating a stronger interparticle interaction and a solidlike viscoelastic behavior of the emulsion. This rheological behavior can be explained by the formation of the reversible particulate network in the emulsion.