Nonlinear stress relaxation and failure of time‒strain separability of aqueous poly(ethylene oxide)/silica nanoparticle mixtures

The stress relaxation test is an effective and facile method for clarifying the nonlinear rheological behavior of soft materials. A thorough analysis of the stress relaxation behavior offers valuable insights into the molecular dynamics. However, the stress relaxation behavior and underlying molecular dynamics of polymer/particle mixtures remain poorly understood, despite their widespread industrial application. In this study, we systematically investigated the nonlinear stress relaxation behavior of a simple-structured poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/silica nanoparticle aqueous mixture. Time‒strain separability was observed at high polymer concentrations, with the stress relaxation attributable to the relaxation of the polymer matrix. At lower polymer concentrations, the time‒strain separability was no longer valid, and changes in absorbance over time suggested that stress relaxation originated from the relaxation of the aggregated structures. A transition from time‒strain separability to inseparability was observed when the estimated number of PEO molecules forming interparticle bridges was less than 1; this suggests that structural changes during shear loading occur only when new interparticle polymer bridges are formed, leading to the development of clustered structures. These results provide a basic understanding of the relationship between deformation and relaxation, which is crucial for systematically understanding the nonlinear rheology of polymeric materials. Normalized relaxation time as a function of the estimated number of interparticle polymer bridges (nbridge). Images show the molecular dynamics pertaining to nbridge < 1 and 1 < nbridge.