We introduce active, probe-based microrheological techniques for measuring the flow and deformation of complex fluids. These techniques are ideal for mechanical characterization either when little sample is available, or when samples show significant spatial heterogeneity. We review recent results, paying particular attention to comparing and contrasting rheological parameters obtained from mic...

Understanding the influence of storage time on the rheological properties polymeric fumed silica gels is very important in the field of composite polymer electrolytes. A rheological study of the aging process of Aerosil R805 suspension in Polypropylene Glycol Mw2000 has been carried out by means of steady and oscillatory experiments.

Manipulation makes light work: The morphology and rheological properties of a liquid-crystalline system can be dynamically manipulated with UV light by attaching photoresponsive liquid-crystalline moieties to a siloxane-based polymer. Stimulation with UV light induces a conformational change in the molecule, which disrupts the liquid-crystalline mesophase (see picture), and results in a dramati...

Effective and accurate methods for characterizing rheological changes of proteins by alteration of their level, composition, or conformation are of significant clinical and biotechnological utility. Current implementations to measure rheological properties of a fluid, however, require mechanically moving components or off-chip measurement setups, thereby preventing incorporation of them into mi...

This paper presents the design, fabrication and evaluation of magneto-rheological damper. Semi-active control devices have received significant attention in recent years because they offer the adaptability of active control devices without requiring the associated large power sources. Magneto-Rheological (MR) dampers are semiactive control devices that use MR fluids to produce controllable damp...

The objective of this work was to assess the impact of filamentous bacteria on the settling velocity and rheological behaviour of activated sludge. We then identified the relevant settling and rheological model parameters to account for the impact of filamentous bulking on the prediction of sludge mixing and transport in secondary settling tanks by a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. We...