Studying solutions at high shear rates: a dedicated microfluidics setup

The development of a dedicated small-angle X-ray scattering setup for the investigation of complex fluids at different controlled shear conditions is reported. The setup utilizes a microfluidics chip with a narrowing channel. As a consequence, a shear gradient is generated within the channel and the effect of shear rate on structure and interactions is mapped spatially. In a first experiment small-angle X-ray scattering is utilized to investigate highly concentrated protein solutions up to a shear rate of 300000 s−1. These data demonstrate that equilibrium clusters of lysozyme are destabilized at high shear rates.

Source: Journal of Synchrotron Radiation - February 12, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: Wieland, D.C.F.Garamus, V.M.Zander, T.Krywka, C.Wang, M.Dedinaite, A.Claesson, P.M.Willumeit-Römer, R. Tags: shear complex solutions small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) microfluidics lysozyme aggregation rheology protein interaction beamline setup research papers Source Type: research