Four researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are recognized for developing an innovative strategy to analyze and formulate complex fluids

MELVILLE, N.Y., July 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Norbert Willenbacher, Claude Oelschlaeger, Jonas Marten, and Florian Péridont have been selected to receive the 2024 Journal of Rheology Publication Award for their research article, "Imaging of the microstructure of Carbopol dispersions and correlation with their macroelasticity: A micro- and macrorheological study,"

The award is conferred annually for the best paper in the preceding two years appearing in the Journal of Rheology (JOR), which is published by AIP Publishing for the Society of Rheology (SOR). The winners, who are affiliated with the Applied Mechanics Research Group from the Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering and Mechanics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, will receive a monetary award and special recognition at the SOR Annual Meeting.

"The winning paper introduces the groundbreaking Micro-Rheo-Mapping technique, a new data analysis strategy developed by the Applied Mechanics Research Group," said JOR Editor-in-Chief Dr. Dimitris Vlassopoulos. "It is based on multiparticle tracking micro-rheology experiments to obtain accurate and direct visualizations of the microstructure of complex fluids, taking advantage of a large amount of information usually discarded in particle tracking data analysis."

"All members of our team are proud of receiving this award as it confirms that our research is broadly appreciated and recognized by the Rheology community," said Prof. Dr. Willenbacher, who serves as the head of the Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering and Mechanics at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology since 2004. "We are proud that we have further developed and pushed an important, almost 30-year-old experimental method that was stuck in an increasingly complex statistical data analysis, ignoring most of the collected information. "

"We employed the new strategy to analyze local structural and viscoelastic heterogeneities of Carbopol^® solutions and gels which allowed us to establish a correlation between microstructure and macroelasticity for this widely used class of commercial acrylate thickeners as a function of pH and polymer concentration," he added.

According to Prof. Dr. Willenbacher, the imaging is based on a 'rheological contrast', i.e. the different local viscoeleastic properties embedded tracer particles experience in a heterogeneous fluid. He explained the method provides a direct image of the fluid structure and local viscoelasticity on a 0.1 to 100 micrometer length scale and noted that it even works for materials visually appearing fully transparent.

Building on their findings, the Applied Mechanics group has already conducted research using the newly developed method to:

• Design hydrogels for extrusion-based 3D bioprinting gaining high shape accuracy and cell viability;
• Investigate the rich phase behavior of concentrated colloidal gels with superimposed short range electro-steric repulsion and weak depletion attraction; and
• Use the microstructural insights gained from their Carbopol investigations for the design of binders for energy storage materials.

Prof. Dr. Willenbacher received his diploma degree in Physics and his PhD from the University of Mainz. After his dissertation at the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research in 1990 he joined BASF SE as a research associate in the fields of rheology of complex fluids and adhesion of soft polymers for 15 years. He served as president of the German Society of Rheology from 2006 to 2019 and now is member of its advisory board. He is member of the Editorial Board of Materials and Electronic Materials, previously he also served as a member of the Editorial Board of Rheologica Acta and as Section Editor of Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science.

Dr. Oelschlaeger received his diploma degree in Physical Chemistry and his PhD in Physics from the University of Strasbourg (France). After his dissertation based on rheology and light scattering of surfactant solutions, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz as a postdoc working on method development and non-linear rheology of block copolymers for two years. Since 2007, he is member of the German Society of Rheology. 

ABOUT THE JOURNAL OF RHEOLOGY PUBLICATION AWARD
Each year, the Society of Rheology (SOR) offers the Journal of Rheology Publication Award to the best paper published during the preceding two years. First presented in 1994, the award includes special recognition at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Rheology and a monetary prize. This award was first presented in 1994.

ABOUT THE SOCIETY OF RHEOLOGY
The Society of Rheology (SOR) is composed of physicists, chemists, biologists, engineers, and mathematicians interested in advancing and applying rheology, which is defined as the science of deformation and flow of matter. The Journal of Rheology, which is published by AIP Publishing on behalf of SOR, is a vital resource for researchers working in fields as diverse as polymer physics and fluid mechanics. It presents experimental results, phenomenological models, and microscopic theories dealing with the rheological behavior of complex materials, including macromolecular, colloidal and particulate solids, and fluids. Application areas include foods, paints, plastics, lubricants, ceramics, coatings, glaciers, and biological fluids.

ABOUT AIP PUBLISHING
AIP Publishing's mission is to advance, promote, and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity by breaking barriers to open, equitable research communication and empowering researchers to accelerate global progress. AIP Publishing is a wholly owned not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and supports the charitable, scientific, and educational purposes of AIP through scholarly publishing activities on its behalf and on behalf of our publishing partners.

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