The orientation in external electric fields of rod-like fd-virus particles (length ℓ= 895 nm, diameter d = 9 nm) in aqueous suspensions is examined by the electric birefringence method. In aqueous suspensions the negatively charged fd-particles are surrounded by a diffuse Debye cloud of counterions, which is characterized by the Debye-Hückel parameter κ. A special experimental set-up is used to vary the ionic strength of the suspension, i.e. the Debye-Hückel parameter, and therefore the electrostatic interparticle interaction. The birefringence signal Δn is measured as a function of the strength and frequency of the applied electric field in suspensions of very low ionic strength (10-6M-10-4M). At low field strengths Kerr-behaviour is found. From the dependence of the electric anisotropy Δαel on the Debye-Hückel parameter κ it is concluded that the orientation of the fd-particles is correlated to an induced dipole due to a deformation of the diffuse Debye cloud. Saturation electric birefringence values are far from that theoretically expected. This can be interpreted as a destruction of the diffuse Debye cloud at high electric fields. At low field strengths the frequency dispersion below 1 kHz of Δn of the electrostatically interacting fd-virus suspensions shows anomalous behaviour. This negative electro-optic effect is an evidence for the orientation of the particle's long symmetry axis perpendicular to the applied electric field. The dispersion has a positive maximum at about 2 kHz. This maximum could be explained by different frequency dependencies of the electric polarizabilities parallel and perpendicular to the long symmetry axis of the fd-rods

We report on experimental investigations of the rheological behavior of aqueous magnetic suspensions. The suspended particles are monodisperse colloidal polystyrene spheres which contain magnetic Fe203-grains. In the absence of a magnetic field these suspensions behave as Newtonian fluids, whereas under the influence of a magnetic field due to the formation of an ordered structure the apparent viscosity of the suspension increases up to three orders of magnitude and they clearly exhibit non-Newtonian properties, such as shear thinning and yield stress. The apparent viscosity depends on the magnetic field according to aq - H2". Increasing the volume fraction of the particles in the range of 0.014 < 0 < 0.12 results in a linear increase in apparent viscosity and yield stress. Both apparent viscosity and yield stress depend also on the particle size as first measurements on particles with diameters ranging from 0.5 Am to 1.0,Am clearly show. All measurements were carried out with a rotation viscometer using the cone-plate configuration so that the applied shear rate was well defined.

Low shear (γ̇=1 s−1) and shear rate dependent (1 s−1&lt;γ̇&lt;100 s−1) viscosity measurements on aqueous suspensions of rodlike FD-virus particles (length=880 nm, diameter=9 nm) below and above the overlap concentration c* =1 particle/length3 are presented. Properties like intrinsic viscosity [η], the virus concentration and shear rate dependence of η are studied in deionized (‘‘saltfree’’) suspensions and in the presence of NaCl, where the Coulomb interaction between the particles is totally screened. In the latter case, [η] is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions [A. R. Altenberger and J. S. Dahler, Macromolecules 18, 1700 (1985); R. M. Davis and W. B. Russel, Macromolecules 20, 518 (1987)]. As a function of the virus concentration, η follows certain power laws in c. The observed exponents depend here on the applied shear rate. In the low shear region, η(c) can be described by the well known Huggins behavior. An attempt to fit the data by the popular stretched exponential form failed. The variation of η with shear rate is compared with available theories [M. Doi and S. F. Edwards, The Theory of Polymer Dynamics (Clarendon, Oxford, 1986); A. R. Altenberger and J. S. Dahler, Macromolecules 18, 1700 (1985); J. S. Dahler, S. Fesciyan, and N. Xystris, Macromolecules 16, 1673 (1983)]. A theory of Hess [Z. Naturforsch. Teil A 35, 915 (1980)] allows us to evaluate the concentration dependent values of the rotational diffusion constant Drot from the η(γ̇) data which are found to be in very good agreement with the values of Drot, obtained by electric or magnetic birefringence [H. Kramer, M. Deggelmann, C. Graf, M. Hagenbüchle, C. Johner, and R. Weber, Macromolecules 25, 4325 (1992); J. F. Maguire and J. P. McTague, Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 1891 (1980); H. Nakamura and K. Okano, Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 186 (1983)]. For strong Coulomb interaction among the suspended viruses no adequate theory is available. Therefore, the data achieved under these conditions are interpreted in terms of the corresponding results of the non-Coulomb interacting samples.

Magnetorheological fluids are suspensions of magnetizable particles that reversibly change from liquid to solid when subjected to a magnetic field. A field-induced structure of dipolar chains is responsible for these changes. Our work aimed at understanding chain dynamics and the kinetics of chain formation by using dynamic light scattering. Chain length is determined by measurement of the diffusion coefficient. Chain-length growth shows a Smoluchowski behavior.

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