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We report on a first-order isotropic-to-nematic phase transition induced by shear in concentrated solutions of elongated flexible wormlike micelles. As shear is applied to a disordered micellar solution, the transition shows up in steady-shear experiments as a kink in the shear stress behaviour. Using small-angle neutron scattering under shear, we show that beyond the transition rate, a nematic phase manifests itself by the growth of crescentlike scattering patterns in the direction perpendicular to the flow. A dynamical phase diagram is finally proposed for this system of equilibrium polymers.

The rheology of cellulose microfibril suspensions from TEMPO-oxidized pulp was investigated. The suspension showed a pseudo-plastic and thixotropic behavior, slowly evolving with time under a given shear rate. The viscosity was proportional to the concentration up to the critical concentration of 0.23%. Above it, the viscosity followed a power law with exponents from 2 to 6 depending on the shear rate, and the system showed shear thinning behavior and behaved gel-like. Below this concentration, the system was more Newtonian. Birefringence measurement of 0.44% and 0.78% suspension showed that microfibrils alignment saturated at a small shear rate with a Herman's orientation parameter below 0.65 probably due to the interconnection of microfibrils.

This paper reports experimental investigations of drop impacts onto chemically treated surfaces with wettability from 5° to 160°. To follow in time the drop spreading, a high speed video camera was used, and it allows us to determine precisely the expansion of the drop and the profile of the free surface at the contact line. By changing the impact velocity, between less than 0.5 and 5 m/s, and the viscosity, from 1 to 100 mPa s, at constant surface tension, a broad range of Reynolds and Weber numbers is explored. This paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, the experimental drop evolution during spreading is directly reported and compared with previous works. Secondly, the emphasis is on the importance of the apparent dynamic contact angle for the prediction of the maximum spreading diameter. This achievement is manifested at low Reynolds numbers at which the matching between the experiment and the model is improved greatly.

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