The discontinuous shear thickening (DST) phenomenon of silica nanoparticle suspensions was investigated in this article. First, the non-aggregated silica nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized. The results indicate that the silica nanoparticles are spherical particles with a narrow size distribution with a diameter of approximately 90 nm. Next, the influence of nitric acid concentration and temperature on the DST phenomenon of shear thickening fluids (STFs) was investigated. The results indicate that the concentrated fluids with nitric acid concentration below 8.50 mmol/L, and at a temperature below 40 degrees C exhibit a readily noticeable DST phenomenon. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.