Rheological Observation of Glassy Dynamics of Dilute Polymer Solutions near the Coil-Stretch Transition in Elongational Flows

T. Sridhar, D. A. Nguyen, R. Prabhakar, and J. Ravi Prakash

Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 167801 – Published 20 April 2007

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.

Received 23 November 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.167801

Authors & Affiliations

T. Sridhar¹, D. A. Nguyen¹, R. Prabhakar², and J. Ravi Prakash^1,*

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC-3800, Australia
²Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT-0200, Australia

^*Corresponding author. Electronic address: ravi.jagadeeshan@eng.monash.edu

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 16 — 20 April 2007

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