Shear banding and the isotropic-to-nematic transition in wormlike micelles

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2001 Jul;64(1 Pt 1):011501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.64.011501. Epub 2001 Jun 12.

Abstract

Using deuterium NMR spectroscopy in a Couette cell, we observe shear-induced nematic ordering in the concentrated wormlike-micelle system CTAB/D(2)O, and our results are qualitatively consistent with birefringence studies, and in exact quantitative agreement with the degree of order measured in neutron-diffraction measurements. The width of the nematic region depends on shear rate, as well as on the temperature proximity to the equilibrium isotropic-nematic transition. Comparison of the nematic order profiles with velocity profiles obtained under identical conditions shows quite clearly that the nematic state is not identifiable with a highly sheared, low viscosity layer, and we conclude that the process of shearing induces a nematic state of high viscosity, possibly associated with mesoscale ordering. We present a simple model in which transition from the high shear branch to the viscous nematic branch is counterbalanced by subsequent relaxation of nematic order.

MeSH terms

  • Biophysics / instrumentation
  • Biophysics / methods*
  • Deuterium Oxide / chemistry
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / methods*
  • Micelles*
  • Models, Statistical
  • Polymers / chemistry
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Micelles
  • Polymers
  • Deuterium Oxide