Chapter 8: New Insights from Rheo-small-angle Neutron Scattering
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Published:17 Mar 2017
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Special Collection: 2017 ebook collectionSeries: Soft Matter Series
M. A. Calabrese and N. J. Wagner, in Wormlike Micelles: Advances in Systems, Characterisation and Applications, ed. C. A. Dreiss and Y. Feng, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017, ch. 8, pp. 193-235.
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Rheo-small angle neutron scattering (rheo-SANS) methods combine microstructural SANS measurements with an applied deformation field in order to measure flow-induced structures in complex fluids. Such methods enable a robust characterization of the microstructure and flow properties of surfactant wormlike micelle (WLM) solutions. The development of new sample environments now enables the flow-induced microstructure to be measured in the three planes of shear: the flow–vorticity (1–3), flow–gradient (1–2), and gradient–vorticity (2–3) planes. Advances in neutron collection and data analysis have improved the temporal resolution of time-dependent responses, significantly reducing the time required to perform such measurements. Theoretical advances in constitutive modelling and the stress-SANS rule now permit the development and testing of structure–property relationships. Such methodologies have allowed flow instabilities, such as shear and vorticity banding, and shear-induced structural transitions to be identified in WLM solutions. Additional sample environments have enabled the study of WLMs under extensional and Poiseuille flows, in addition to flows in microfluidic devices.