The Ages in a Self-Suspended Nanoparticle Liquid

Telomers ionically tethered to nanometer-sized particles yield self-suspended, nanoparticle-Iaden liquids with unusual dynamical features. By subjecting these suspensions to controlled, modest shear strains, we find that their flow behaviors observed using experiments performed on time scales of tens of seconds can be projected to obtain maps of their dynamical response on geological time scales. That such extraordinarily slow dynamic processes can be uncovered from real-time measurements by simply stretching a system provides a simple but powerful tool for interrogating extremely slow motions in other jammed physical states. © 2010 American Chemical Society.