On the effective viscosity of nanosuspensions

The effective viscosity of nanosuspensions is simulated using the molecular dynamics method. It is found that viscosity is controlled not only by the volume concentration of nanoparticles, by also by their mass and diameter. The viscosity of even strongly rarefied nanosuspensions (with a low concentration of nanoparticles) cannot be described by the Einstein relation. This means that the mechanism responsible for the increase in the viscosity of the medium is not of hydrodynamic origin. It is shown that the formation of viscosity of nanosuspensions is associated to a considerable extent with nonequilibrium microfluctuations of density and velocity of the carrier medium, which are induced by the motion of nanoparticles.