Stringlike patterns in critical polymer mixtures under steady shear flow

Abstract

Phase-contrast microscopy has been used for a quantitative study of domain deformation in diluted polymer blends undergoing spinodal decomposition in the presence of steady shear flow. Stabilized in the weak-shear limit, nearly spherical droplets of the minority phase elongate and break repeatedly as the shear rate increases, eventually giving way to stringlike patterns in the strong-shear limit. The data are interpreted with the Onuki-Taylor model of emulsionlike critical dispersions under shear.