Hydrogen bonding in ethanol under shear

We study the dependence of viscosity of ethanol on shear rate using constant volume and constant pressure nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, with the emphasis of the interrelationship between breaking, stability, and alignment of hydrogen bonds and shear thinning at high shear rates. We find that although the majority of hydrogen bond breakings occur at low shear rates, we do not observe shear thinning until there is some shear-induced alignment of the hydrogen bonds with the direction of shear.