Gelation of natural polymer dispersed suspensions under electric field

Abstract

Potential applications for natural polymers have been intensively researched for a long time. Electrorheological (ER) fluids are a kind of colloidal suspension with rheological properties that can reversibly change over several orders of magnitude under a sufficiently strong electric field within a millisecond. By extension of the study on the properties of natural polymers to enlarge their applications, herein, we briefly review the ER materials based on natural polymers such as cellulose, starch, and chitosan. This highlight focuses on the current research of ER materials based on natural polymers and their perspective.