The variation in the storage (G ') and loss (G ") modulus as a function of frequency at various temperatures is presented in Fig. 6 a. For all slurries tested when the frequency is increased, both moduli increase but in different manners, exhibiting frequency dependence.
After the first mixing operation, the storage modulus is slightly larger than the AB slurry but smaller than the estimation, while the loss modulus increases roughly four times and is much larger than the estimation.
At CMC 1.0 wt% (Fig. 6 c), as the CB content increases from 0 to 2.0 vol%, the slurry does not show a plateau modulus and shows a similar G′ value over the investigated frequency range. However, as the CB content increases to 4.0 vol%, the slurry shows a gel-like behavior with a rapid increase in G′. Figure 6 d summarizes the results of Fig. 6 a–c.
In the viscoelastic measurement, on the other hand, storage and loss moduli are measured as increasing the frequency logarithmically from 0.1 to 100 Hz at the maximum strain of 0.01%, being known as a frequency sweep test. When the maximum strain is sufficiently small, the internal structure of the slurry is maintained during this measurement.
With the increase of strain, both moduli decline gradually, indicating that non-linear behavior occurs. In this case, the corresponding strain is called the 1st critical strain at which the storage modulus drops by 5% from its plateau value.
The experimental results at various temperatures are shown in Fig. 5 a, noting that the storage modulus (G ') exceeds the loss modulus (G "), signifying an elastic-dominant response for all slurries at low strain. With the increase of strain, both moduli decline gradually, indicating that non-linear behavior occurs.