Rheo-Sans: Feasibility to characterize concentrated polydisperse colloidal particle suspensions

This article reports the series of different investigations on in-situ coupling of rheology with small-angle scattering (Rheo-SANS) measurements of colloidal particle suspensions. This coupling allows us to directly correlate microscopic particle-particle interactions with macroscopic suspension behavior under different physical and chemical environments. In this article, some results obtained with aqueous suspensions composed of colloidal particles, including metal oxide particles and food colloids are introduced as examples, measured by Rheo-SANS (small-angle neutron scattering). The research gaps are identified and specific future perspectives are discussed to further enhance the use of this useful coupling, and its application towards the transition from the evaluation of simple particle suspension systems to more complex particle suspension systems that fit more with the interest and needs of particle processing industries.