Shear-induced nano-macro structural transition in a polymeric bicontinuous microemulsion.
Bicontinuous microemulsions arise in a narrow concentration range for ternary blends containing two immiscible homopolymers and the corresponding diblock copolymer. Steady shear reveals four distinct regimes of response as a function of shear rate, corresponding to flow-induced transitions in fluid structure. In situ neutron scattering shows flow-induced anisotropy in the nanometer-scale microemulsion structure at moderate shear rates, while higher rates induce bulk phase separation, with micron-size morphology, which is characterized with in situ light scattering and optical microscopy.
Krishnan
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Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55455, USA.
Almdal
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Burghardt
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Lodge
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Bates
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