5.2. Rheology

Rheological examinations of the mc pastes were performed with a plate-plate rheometer (Rheotest RN 4, Medingen, Germany; d = 36 mm, distance of the plates 0.1 mm) at 25 °C. Shear thinning was characterized by increasing the shear rate from 0–100 s⁻¹ over 1200 s (increment 0.08 s⁻¹) and viscosity was measured (n = 3). Shear recovery of the mc pastes (n = 3) was characterized orientating at the protocols proposed by Paxton and co-workers and Kesti and co-workers [13,28]. Firstly, a constant shear rate of 5 s⁻¹ was applied for 200 s, followed by a hundred-fold higher shear rate of 500 s⁻¹ for 100 s. This procedure was repeated two times. Then, again a shear rate of 5 s⁻¹ was applied for 200 s. For the whole time of observation, viscosity was measured and shear recovery was obtained. Stress ramps of mc6, mc8, and mc10 were performed to evidence flowing of the inks at high shear rates (data not shown).