Synthesis of cation-exchanged laponite suspensions by laser ablation of microsized-metal particles in liquid

    Authors

    T. X. Phuoc;R. H. Chen

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Opt. Lasers Eng.

    Keywords

    Laser ablation; Cation-exchange laponite; Thixotropy; Rheology; NANOPARTICLES; WATER; Optics

    Abstract

    Laser ablation in the liquid technique has been used to synthesize cation-exchanged laponite suspensions. In summary, laser ablation of the microsize-metal powder (Co, Al, and Cu) dispersed in an aqueous solution containing deionized water laponite crystals was carried out using laser beam generated by a single-mode, Q-switched Nd-Yag laser operating at 532 nm with a pulse duration of 5.5 ns and 10 Hz repetition rate. Laser fluence was 0.265 J/cm(2) for all tests. For all samples, the mass fraction of laponite was 1%. General observations of the prepared samples indicated that an aqueous suspension of 1 wt% laponite retained its free flowing liquid phase characteristics even after aging for several weeks. When bivalent cationic metals (Cu, Co, Al) were ablated in it for about 1 h, even with a small amount of the metal (0.025% and 0.050%) were generated, the suspension became highly viscous and behaved as a shear-thinning and thixotropic material. That is, the suspension gelled strongly when it was allowed to rest. The gels, however, could easily be reverted to a low viscosity liquid with simple shaking. Information from TEM and XRD analysis indicated that such a sol-gel transformation might be due to the charge exchange between the cationic species produced during the laser ablation and the sodium ions in the interlayers of the clay sheets. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

    Journal Title

    Optics and Lasers in Engineering

    Volume

    49

    Issue/Number

    3

    Publication Date

    1-1-2011

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    396

    Last Page

    402

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000286720400015

    ISSN

    0143-8166

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