Shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.

Phenomena such as shear thinning and thickening, occurring when complex materials are exposed to external forces, are generally believed to be closely connected to changes in the microstructure. Here, we establish a direct and quantitative relation between shear thinning in a colloidal crystal and t...

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Main Authors: Dullens, R, Bechinger, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2011
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author Dullens, R
Bechinger, C
author_facet Dullens, R
Bechinger, C
author_sort Dullens, R
collection OXFORD
description Phenomena such as shear thinning and thickening, occurring when complex materials are exposed to external forces, are generally believed to be closely connected to changes in the microstructure. Here, we establish a direct and quantitative relation between shear thinning in a colloidal crystal and the surface area of the locally melted region by dragging a probe particle through the crystal using optical tweezing. We show that shear thinning originates from the nonlinear dependence of the locally melted surface area on the drag velocity. Our observations provide unprecedented quantitative evidence for the intimate relation between mechanical properties and underlying changes in microscopic structure.
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spelling oxford-uuid:ff5eaa3a-ac1a-4119-a97b-444af67d7ce32022-03-27T13:44:27ZShear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ff5eaa3a-ac1a-4119-a97b-444af67d7ce3EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2011Dullens, RBechinger, CPhenomena such as shear thinning and thickening, occurring when complex materials are exposed to external forces, are generally believed to be closely connected to changes in the microstructure. Here, we establish a direct and quantitative relation between shear thinning in a colloidal crystal and the surface area of the locally melted region by dragging a probe particle through the crystal using optical tweezing. We show that shear thinning originates from the nonlinear dependence of the locally melted surface area on the drag velocity. Our observations provide unprecedented quantitative evidence for the intimate relation between mechanical properties and underlying changes in microscopic structure.
spellingShingle Dullens, R
Bechinger, C
Shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.
title Shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.
title_full Shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.
title_fullStr Shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.
title_full_unstemmed Shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.
title_short Shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals.
title_sort shear thinning and local melting of colloidal crystals
work_keys_str_mv AT dullensr shearthinningandlocalmeltingofcolloidalcrystals
AT bechingerc shearthinningandlocalmeltingofcolloidalcrystals