| Ultrasound techniques, acoustic and electroacoustic spectroscopy, are used to investigate and characterize concentrated fluid phase nanocomposites. In particular, the data obtained from ultrasound methods are used as tools to improve the understanding of the fundamental process chemistry of concentrated, multicomponent, nanomaterial dispersions. Silicon nitride nanofibers embedded in silica are particularly interesting for lightweight nanocomposites, because silicon nitride is isostructural to carbon nitride, a super hard material. However, the major challenge with processing these composites is retarding particle-particle aggregation, to maintain highly dispersed systems. Therefore, a systematic approach was developed to evaluate the affect of process parameters on particle-particle aggregation, and improving the chemical kinetics for gelation.;From the acoustic analysis of the nanofibers, this thesis was able to deduce that changes in aspect ratio affects the ultrasound propagation. In particular, higher aspect ratio fibers attenuate the ultrasound wave greater than lower aspect fibers of the same material. Furthermore, our results confirm that changes in attenuation depend on the hydrodynamical interactions between particles, the aspect ratio, and the morphology of the dispersant. The results indicate that the attenuation is greater for fumed silica due to its elastic nature and its size, when compared to silica Ludox. Namely, the larger the size, the greater the attenuation. This attenuation is mostly the result of scattering loss in the higher frequency range.;In addition, the silica nanofibers exhibit greater attenuation than their nanoparticle counterparts because of their aspect ratio influences their interaction with the ultrasound wave. In addition, this study observed how 3M NH 4 Cl's acoustic properties changes during the gelation process, and during that change, the frequency dependency deviates from the expected squared of the frequency, until the system becomes fully dense and turns into a pure gel. Moreover, our results demonstrated the use of ultrasound to determine the critical coagulation concentration, and a double logarithm plot of the CVI indicated a possible power law dependency for NH4 Cl concentrations.;Lastly, the mechanism of the gelation reaction of colloidal silica, Si(OH) 4(aq) + Si(OH)3(O) --(aq) → Si2O8H5--( aq) + H2O, by an anionic pathway was investigated using density functional theory (DFT). Using transition state theory, the rate constants were obtained by analyzing the potential energy surface at the reactants, saddle point, and the products. In addition, reaction rate constants were investigated in the presence of ammonium chloride (NH 4 Cl) and sodium chloride (NaCl). These salts act as catalysis to induce gelation due to their ability to destabilize the double layer of the colloid. Furthermore, it was observed that ammonium chloride plays an important role by initiating a hydride transfer allowing the reaction to proceed from the second transition state to the final product, and was predicted to be spontaneous for all temperatures.;In summary, this thesis provides a comprehensive approach on examining the parameters required for the chemical processing of nanofiber dispersions, thus improving the understanding of the physio-chemical interactions, the gelation mechanism, and their influence on obtaining highly dispersed fluid phase composite systems. |
