Effect of carbomer microgel pH and concentration on the Herschel–Bulkley parameters

The article presents an experimental investigation of the rheological properties of carbomer microgels. All of the tested fluids were made up from commercial polyacrylic acid, Carbopol Ultrez 30. In total, eighteen microgels were prepared, differing in concentration; 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 wt%, with six levels of neutralisation for pH from 4.0 to 9.0. Based on the experimental flow curves it was found that all tested microgels are yield stress shear-thinning fluids. Therefore, the Herschel–Bulkley model was used and its rheological parameters were determined. It was found that both the concentration and the pH value significantly affected the yield stress. As the Carbopol concentration increased, the yield point also increased. With the increasing value of pH, the yield stress first increased until a certain maximum level and then decreased. The maximum values of yield stress were obtained for pH = 6 to 7, depending on polymer concentration. It was also found that flow curves of the tested microgels could be described using one universal master curve, thus they have common rheological behaviour.