title: Rheological observation of glassy dynamics of dilute polymer solutions near the coil-stretch transition in elongational flows.
abstract: It has long been conjectured that the macroscopic dynamics of dilute polymer solutions may exhibit a glasslike slowdown caused by ergodicity breaking, in the vicinity of the coil-stretch transition in elongational flows. We report experimental observations using a filament stretching rheometer that confirm the existence of such glassy states. It is observed that different time-dependent elongational strain-rate profiles lead to a pronounced history dependence and aging effects within a narrow range of strain rates. The results have a direct bearing on the analysis and design of processes employing dilute polymer solutions, such as ink-jet printing, surface coating, and turbulent-drag reduction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC-3800, Australia.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sridhar
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prabhakar
authors.forename: J Ravi
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Prakash
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004548:Elasticity; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D044367:Phase Transition; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012996:Solutions
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D012996:Solutions