Structure of Aggregating Rod Suspensions Under Combined Shear and Electric Fields

Efficient strategies for dispersion of carbon nanotubes in polymeric and solvent matrices constitutes an area of active interest. In this article, we examine from a theoretical perspective the hypothesis that a combination of AC electric and shear fields oriented at an angle may be used to enhance the dispersion of aggregated rod solutions. We present a deterministic and a Smoluchowski equation based analysis of the dynamics of the rod suspensions in a configuration involving combined electric and shear fields. We use this analysis to suggest that a cross-field shear and electric field configuration may result in a ``rotating'' state of the rods which may potential disperse aggregated nanotube suspensions. We test the predictions of our analytical models through Brownian dynamics simulations to analyze the dynamics of a rod suspensions in a cross-field configuration. The results of our simulations display good agreement with our analytical results and serve to delineate the parametric regimes in which the use of a combination of electric and shear fields may enhance the dispersion of aggregated nanotubes.