https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2014-14010-9
Regular Article
Liquid filament instability due to stretch-induced phase separation in polymer solutions
Liquid filament instability
1
Laboratory of polymer rheology, Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences, 29 Leninkii prospect, 119991, Moscow, Russian Federation
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000, Haifa, Israel
* e-mail: mearin@techunix.technion.ac.il
Received:
10
October
2013
Revised:
29
January
2014
Accepted:
12
February
2014
Published online:
25
February
2014
The instability in a jet of a viscoelastic semidilute entangled polymer solution under high stretching is discussed. Initially the jet is stable due to solution elasticity stopping the fluctuation growth. The modeling shows that a jet stretching results in a radial gradient in the polymer distribution: the polymer is concentrated in the jet centre, whereas the solvent is remaining near the surface. This viscous liquid shell demonstrates Raleigh-type instability resulting in the formation of individual droplets on the oriented filament. All process stages were observed experimentally.
Key words: Soft Matter: Polymers and Polyelectrolytes
© EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2014