NF16 


Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics & Flow Instabilities


Visualization of chain dynamics of highly entangled shear-banding polymer solutions under large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS)


October 17, 2018 (Wednesday) 10:40


Track 7 / Plaza II

(Click on name to view author profile)

  1. Shin, Seunghwan (University of Minnesota, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science)
  2. Dorfman, Kevin D. (University of Minnesota, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science)
  3. Cheng, Xiang (University of Minnesota, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science)

(in printed abstract book)
Seunghwan Shin, Kevin D. Dorfman, and Xiang Cheng
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455


Shin, Seunghwan


In contrast to well-entangled linear worm-like micelles, where the existence and the origin of shear-banding flows have been well established, the understanding of morphological and conformational changes that accompany shear banding in entangled polymer solutions is still far from complete. Here, we analyze the shear profiles and polymer dynamics of well-entangled double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) under LAOS by combining a custom planar Couette shear cell and a high-resolution confocal microscope. Under LAOS at sufficiently high Weissenberg number (Wi), the velocity profiles display clear evolution from linear to shear-banding flows. Interestingly, in the shear-banding flows, the edge disturbance exhibits an unexpectedly long penetration length that is an order of magnitude larger than the gap thickness. To further investigate the microscopic structural origin of the shear banding, we study the dynamics and distribution of individual dsDNA chains in the shear banding flows. Analysis of the dynamics of DNA chains reveals spatially distinctive features, which provide insights into the origin of the two co-existing bands.