Microfluidic devices are ideally suited for the study of complex fluids undergoing large deformation rates in the absence of inertial complications. In particular, a microfluidic contraction geometry can be utilized to characterize the material response of complex fluids in an extensionally-dominated flow, but the mixed nature of the flow kinematics makes quantitative measurements of material functions such as the true extensional viscosity challenging. In this paper, we introduce the 'extensional viscometer-rheometer-on-a-chip' (EVROC), which is a hyperbolically-shaped contractionexpansion geometry fabricated using microfluidic technology for characterizing the importance of viscoelastic effects in an extensionally-dominated flow at large extension rates (λε a 1, where λ is the characteristic relaxation time, or for many industrial processesε a 1 s −1 ). We combine measurements of the flow kinematics, the mechanical pressure drop across the contraction and spatially-resolved flow-induced birefringence, to study a number of model rheological fluids as well as several representative liquid consumer products in

In this study, we use micro-particle image velocimetry (µ-PIV) and adapt a commercial birefringence microscopy system for making full-field, quantitative measurements of flow-induced birefringence (FIB) for the purpose of microfluidic, opticalrheometry of two worm-like micellar solutions. In combination with conventional rheometric techniques, we use our microfluidic rheometer to study the properties of a shear-banding solution of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPyCl) with sodium salicylate (NaSal) and a nominally shear thinning system of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) with NaSal across many orders of magnitude of deformation rates (10 −2 ≤γ ≤ 10 4 s −1 ). We use µ-PIV to quantify the local kinematics and use the birefringence microscopy system in order to obtain high-resolution measurements of the changes in molecular orientation in the worm-like fluids under strong deformations in a microchannel. The FIB measurements reveal that the CPyCl system exhibits regions of localized, high optical anisotropy indicative of shear bands near the channel walls, whereas the birefringence in the shear-thinning CTAB system varies more smoothly across the width of the channel as the volumetric flow rate is increased. We compare the experimental results to the predictions of a simple constitutive model, and we document the break-down in the stress optical rule as the characteristic rate of deformation is increased.

We investigate the stability of steady planar stagnation flows of a dilute polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution using T-shaped microchannels. The precise flow rate control and well-defined geometries achievable with microfluidic fabrication technologies enable us to make detailed observations of the onset of elastically-driven flow asymmetries in steady flows with strong planar elongational characteristics. We consider two different stagnation flow geometries; corresponding to T-shaped microchannels with, and without, a recirculating cavity region. In the former case, the stagnation point is located on a free streamline, whereas in the absence of a recirculating cavity the stagnation point at the separating streamline is pinned at the confining wall of the microchannel. The kinematic differences in these two configurations affect the resulting polymeric stress fields and control the critical conditions and spatiotemporal dynamics of the resulting viscoelastic flow instability. In the free stagnation point flow, a strand of highly-oriented polymeric material is formed in the region of strong planar extensional flow. This leads to a symmetry-breaking bifurcation at moderate Weissenberg numbers followed by the onset of three-dimensional flow at high Weissenberg numbers, which can be visualized using streak-imaging and microparticle image velocimetry. When the stagnation point is pinned at the wall this symmetry-breaking transition is suppressed and the flow transitions directly to a threedimensional time-dependent flow at an intermediate flow rate. The spatial characteristics of these purely elastic flow transitions are compared quantitatively to the predictions of two-dimensional viscoelastic numerical simulations using a single-mode simplified PhanThien-Tanner (SPTT) model.

Manipulation makes light work: The morphology and rheological properties of a liquid‐crystalline system can be dynamically manipulated with UV light by attaching photoresponsive liquid‐crystalline moieties to a siloxane‐based polymer. Stimulation with UV light induces a conformational change in the molecule, which disrupts the liquid‐crystalline mesophase (see picture), and results in a dramatic change in its rheological properties.magnified image

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