Shear-banding and microstructure of colloids in shear flow

Abstract

We shall discuss the following phenomena found in various colloidal systems in shear flow. We recently observed shear-banding in suspensions of fd-virus in a cylindrical shear cell. Small angle light scattering experiments revealed that the shear-banding transition is preceded by a relatively fast process (minutes) of nematic-to-paranematic phase separation during which inhomogeneities on the micrometer length scale are formed. After the formation of these inhomogeneities, a slow (hours) appearence of shear-bands is observed, which have a height of a few mm. In the stationary state it is found, by means of polarization microscopy, that inhomogeneities exist within the bands. Small angle, time resolved light scattering experiments on near-critical microstructural order in a mixture of colloidal spheres and free polymer under stationary shear flow are discussed. The unexpected distortion of microstructure in directions perpendicular to the flow direction is quantitatively explained by extending an already existing theory, to include shear-induced short-ranged microstructural distortion. In colloidal systems consisting of “hairy colloids”, where a spherical core is decorated with relatively long polymers, shear-induced polymer brush deformation might be important for its structural and rheological behavior. Preliminary neutron scattering and rheology experiments are performed to study polymer brush deformation in (semi-) dilute suspensions.