MAGNETROVISCOELASTIC BEHAVIOR OF COMPOSITE GELS

Dynamic viscoelasticity of silicone gels having many lines of dispersed iron particles under the influence of external magnetic fields was studied. The particulate composite enhanced its elastic modulus by action of magnetic fields. The magnetroviscoelastic behavior was caused by the cohesive forces between magnetically polarized particles and was analyzed using a simple model of induced dipole-induced dipole interactions. The presented results provide insight into the relationship between macroscopic viscoelastic behavior of the composite gels and the microscopic bondings between dispersed particles. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.