Abstract: The research on the regulation of rheological properties of suspension is of great significance on the industrial and other fields. In this study, the effect of three types surfactants on the rheological properties of hydrophilic hollow glass bead (HGB) suspension was studied. The influence of surfactants on the rheological properties of suspension was investigated by using confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and Zeta potentiometer and so on. The results show that only anionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) has a remarkable effect on the rheological properties of the hydrophilic HGB suspension. The suspension was changed from fluid-like state to cream-body state and then to fluid-like state as the concentration of SDBS was increased from 0.1% to 0.6%. The Zeta potential of the suspension is positive, and the anionic micelles surround the particles as observed by CLSM when the suspension shows cream-body state. The positive particles and negative micelles form the network through electrostatic attraction which causes the suspension to be turned from fluid-like state to cream-body state. The nonionic surfactant (Brij) micelles in the suspension do not surround the particles and have no interaction with particles, so the rheological properties of hydrophilic HGB suspensions with Brij have no obviously change. The cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB) micelles suspend randomly and the Zeta potential of the suspension is still negative. It means that the Zeta potential changes of the particle are caused by the adsorption of cationic surfactant ions with positive charge instead of cationic surfactant micelles. The adsorption of the cationic surfactants ions cause the steric hindrance between the particles and micelles, so when the CTMAB solution is used to prepare the hydrophilic HGB suspensions, the macro morphology and the viscosity of the suspensions change little.

Key words: Viscosity, Surfactant, Micelle, Suspensions, Critical micelle concentration