Researchers have accurately predicted the exact time of the first crack’s emergence in aged clay. Their findings also apply to other forms of drying colloidal layers, such as blood and paint—insights that could aid in disease diagnosis, forensics, painting restoration and improving the quality of paints used for coatings.
Clay, the primary component of natural soils, is used as a modifier in formulating paints and coatings. When subjected to desiccation, colloidal clay suspensions and clayey soils crack due to the accumulation of drying-induced stresses. Even when desiccation is suppressed, aqueous clay suspensions exhibit physical aging, with their elasticity and viscosity evolving continuously over time as the clay particles self-assemble into gel-like networks due to time-dependent inter-particle screened electrostatic interactions.
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