title: Shear-induced disruption of dense nanoemulsion gels.
abstract: The structural evolution and rheology of dense nanoemulsion gels, which have been formed by creating strong attractions between slippery nanodroplets, are explored as a function of steady shear rate using rheological small-angle neutron scattering (rheo-SANS). For applied stresses above the yield stress of the gel, the network yields, fracturing into aggregates that break and reform as they tumble and interact in the shear flow. The average aggregate size decreases with increasing shear rate; meanwhile, droplet rearrangements within the clusters, allowed by the slippery nature of the attractive interaction, increase the local density within the aggregates. At the highest shear rates, all clusters disaggregate completely into individual droplets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles, 607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
authors.forename: James N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Wilking
authors.forename: Connie B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Fryd
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Porcar
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Mason