Sridhar T, Nguyen D A, Prabhakar R, Prakash J Ravi
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC-3800, Australia.
Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Apr 20;98(16):167801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.167801.
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.
