Abstract
Viscosity and zeta-potential of 11.0 wt. % aqueous bentonite suspension containing various electrolytes and hydrogen-ion concentration were measured by using a Couette type automatic rotational viscometer and Zeta Meter, respectively. The effects of pH and elcctrolytes on the rheological properties of the suspension were investigated. A system, which has a large zeta-potcntial, has a small intrinsic relaxation time ${\beta}$ and a small intrinsic shear modulus $1/{\alpha}$ in the Ree-Eyring generalized viscosity equation, i.e., such a system has a small viscosity value, since ${\eta}={\beta}/{\alpha}$. In general, a stable suspension system has large zeta-potential. The stability condition of clay-water suspension can be estimated by viscometric method since stable suspension generally has small viscosity. The correlation between the stability, viscosity and zeta-potential has been explained by the Ree-Eyring theory of viscous flow.