Jacinta C. Conrad, Robert F. Shepherd, Summer K. Rhodes, and Jennifer A. Lewis. Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1304 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801
We use confocal microscopy to investigate the behavior of suspensions of attractive colloids at a constriction. We flow suspensions of attractive silica colloids through microchannels and directly image both their structure and dynamics during flow. Specifically, we investigate the flow properties as a function of applied pressure, microchannel geometry, and the colloid volume fraction. When the applied pressure or displacement is relatively small, the particle velocity is nearly constant across the channel, yet small rearrangements can still occur in the gel structure. When the applied pressure or displacement is large, the gel structure is disrupted and the flow velocity changes across the channel width. In addition, we also explore the non-equilibrium clogging that occurs when the system experiences jamming within these microchannels.