Instruments: 

We are supported by NSF and PRF-ACS and equipped with a broad spectrum of experimental tools, ranging from rheological, rheo-optical instruments and flow birefringence methods to the recently in-house developed powerful particle tracking velocimetry that can be applied to a variety of setups to probe the shear flow behavior of polymer solutions and melts.

Major equipment in the group includes:

• ARES rheometer with rheo-optics,
• Advanced FTIR imaging spectroscopy,
• Bohlin-CVOR (stress-controlled rheometer) with home-made transparent cone/plate and Couette flow cells for rheo-optical measurements,
• Anton Paar MCR 301 (stress-controlled rheometer),
• Custom-made linear shear (force-controlled) rheometer for studying polymer melt flow,
• Custom-made sliding plate rheometer (operating in either force-controlled or displacement-controlled mode) with optical windows to allow light through both velocity gradient and vorticity directions respectively,
• Custom-made tearing and stretching device (force-controlled),
• Two Monsanto Automatic Capillary Rheometers with home-designed slit die for optical measurements,
• Goettfert Capillary Rheometer (RheoTester-1000) with home-designed slit die for flow visualization.