Encapsulation of shear thickening fluid as an easy-to-apply impact-resistant material

He Zhang; Xin Zhang; Qian Chen; Xin Li; Pengfei Wang; En-Hua Yang; Fei Duan; Xinglong Gong; Zhong Zhang; Jinglei Yang

doi:10.1039/C7TA04904H

Encapsulation of shear thickening fluid as an easy-to-apply impact-resistant material†

He Zhang,

‡^ab Xin Zhang,‡^ce Qian Chen,^d Xin Li,^b Pengfei Wang,^d En-Hua Yang,^e Fei Duan,^b Xinglong Gong,

^d Zhong Zhang

^f and Jinglei Yang*^g

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a South China University of Technology, National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory Polymer Processing Engineering, Guangzhou 510641, China

^b School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

^c Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, Singapore

^d CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei 230027, China

^e School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

^f CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China

^g Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
E-mail: maeyang@ust.hk

Abstract

In this investigation, a hard-to-handle shear thickening fluid (STF) is successfully encapsulated for easy handling and re-processing. The encapsulated STF is a promising impact-resistant material. Double-walled macroscopic STF capsules are synthesized using a convenient process by instilling diluted STF droplets into reaction solution. The obtained STF capsules show good shear thickening response to dynamic impact in comparison to quasi-static compression (154 times higher absorbed nominal strain energy). The capsules' robustness and capacity to absorb impact energy can be adjusted by varying the reaction time and the amount of chloroform in the reaction solution. This innovative method opens a new window to design and manufacture versatile impact-resistant materials and structures.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Encapsulation of shear thickening fluid as an easy-to-apply impact-resistant material†

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Encapsulation of shear thickening fluid as an easy-to-apply impact-resistant material

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