This paper is concerned with the rheology and processing of solvent-free core shell “polymer opals” that consist of a soft outer shell grafted to hard colloidal polymer core particles. Strong iridescent colors can be produced by shearing the material in a certain way that causes the initially disordered spheres to rearrange into ordered crystalline structures and produce colors by diffraction and interference of multiple light scattering, similar to gemstone opals. The basic linear viscoelastic rheology of a polymer opal sample was determined as a function of temperature, and the material was found to be highly viscoelastic at all tested temperatures. A Cambridge multipass rheometer was specifically modified in order to make controlled mechanical measurements of initially disordered polymer opal tapes that were sandwiched between protective polyethylene terephthalate sheets. Axial extension, simple shear, and a novel “edge shearing” geometry were all evaluated, and multiple successive experiments of the edge shearing test were carried out at different temperatures. The optical development of colloidal ordering, measured as optical opalescence, was quantified by spectroscopy using visible backscattered light. The development of opalescence was found to be sensitive to the geometry of deformation and a number of process variables suggesting a complex interaction of parameters that caused the opalescence. In order to identify aspects of the deformation mechanism of the edge shearing experiment, a separate series of in situ optical experiments were carried out and this helped indicate the extent of simple shear generated with each edge shear deformation. The results show that strong ordering can be induced by successive edge shearing deformation. The results are relevant to polymer opal rheology, processing, and mechanisms relating to ordering within complex viscoelastic fluids.
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March 2014
Research Article|
March 01 2014
The rheology and processing of “edge sheared” colloidal polymer opals
Hon Sum Wong;
Hon Sum Wong
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom
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Malcolm Mackley;
Malcolm Mackley
a)
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom
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Simon Butler;
Simon Butler
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom
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Jeremy Baumberg;
Jeremy Baumberg
Cavendish Laboratory, NanoPhotonics Centre, University of Cambridge
, Cambridge CB3 OHE, United Kingdom
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David Snoswell;
David Snoswell
b)
Cavendish Laboratory, NanoPhotonics Centre, University of Cambridge
, Cambridge CB3 OHE, United Kingdom
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Chris Finlayson;
Chris Finlayson
c)
Cavendish Laboratory, NanoPhotonics Centre, University of Cambridge
, Cambridge CB3 OHE, United Kingdom
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Qibin Zhao
Qibin Zhao
Cavendish Laboratory, NanoPhotonics Centre, University of Cambridge
, Cambridge CB3 OHE, United Kingdom
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; electronic mail: mrm5@cam.ac.uk
b)
Current address: Sclumberger Gould Research, Cambridge CB3 0EL, United Kingdom.
c)
Current address: Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science (IMPACS), Prifysgol Aberystwyth University, SY23 3BZ Wales, United Kingdom.
J. Rheol. 58, 397–409 (2014)
Article history
Received:
October 23 2013
Accepted:
January 03 2014
Citation
Hon Sum Wong, Malcolm Mackley, Simon Butler, Jeremy Baumberg, David Snoswell, Chris Finlayson, Qibin Zhao; The rheology and processing of “edge sheared” colloidal polymer opals. J. Rheol. 1 March 2014; 58 (2): 397–409. https://doi.org/10.1122/1.4862920
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