Acquisition of Rheometer and Laser for in situ Optical Measurements of Flow-Induced Structures

在过去的十年中，加州大学圣巴巴拉已经成为复杂液体研究的主要中心之一，并在聚合物溶液，胶体悬浮液，表面活性剂系统和生物材料的理解方面取得了根本性的进展。 对这些系统的研究是高度跨学科的，参与者来自多个部门，包括化学工程，机械工程，材料，化学，物理和生物学。 这些系统的流动行为的研究一直是一个中心和一致的焦点，在UCSB正在开发许多创新。 %该奖项是为了表彰公司收购了一台商用流体流变仪和一台氩离子激光器，以开发能够同时进行流变和光学测量的高性能测量系统。 该仪器将用于研究复杂流体中流动与结构之间的关系。 该流变仪能够对大分子溶液和悬浮液中的剪切应力和法向应力进行动态、瞬态和稳态测量。 对于这款流变仪，我们将添加执行多种光学测量的功能，包括小角度和大角度光散射、显微镜检查和流动双折射。 光学测量将提供有关结构变化的重要信息，这些结构变化伴随着所研究的流体的流变学变化。 通过同时进行流变学和结构测量，该仪器将显著推进最新技术水平，并为了解复杂流体的流动和加工提供独特而强大的工具。 ***

9625856 Pine Over the past ten years, University of California, Santa Barbara has become one of the premier centers for research on complex liquids and has made fundamental advances in the understanding of polymer solutions, colloidal suspensions, surfactant systems, and biomaterials. Research on these systems is highly interdisciplinary with participants from several departments including Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials, Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. The study of the flow behavior of these systems has been a central and consistent focus, with many innovations being developed at UCSB. %%% This award is for the acquisition of a commercial fluids rheometer and an argon ion laser in order to develop a high performance measurement system capable of making simultaneous rheological and optical measurements. The instrument will be used to study the relationship between flow and structure in complex fluids. The rheometer is capable of making dynamic, transient, and steady state measurements of shear and normal stresses in macromolecular solutions and suspensions. To this rheometer, we will add the capability of performing several optical measurements including small and large angle light scattering, microscopy, and flow birefringence. The optical measurements will provide crucial information about structural changes which accompany rheological changes of the fluid under study. By simultaneously performing both rheological and structural measurements, this instrument will significantly advance the state-of-the-art and provide a unique and powerful tool for understanding the flow and processing of complex fluids. ***