Universal mechanism of shear thinning in supercooled liquids

TL;DR

This paper extends mode coupling theory to include particle configuration distortion, revealing that both advection and distortion contribute to shear thinning, with distortion being dominant, explaining its universality in glassy materials.

Contribution

The authors develop an extended mode coupling theory incorporating particle distortion, providing a quantitative explanation for shear thinning across various glass formers.

Findings

Both advection and distortion contribute to shear thinning.

Distortion is the dominant mechanism in shear thinning.

The theory quantitatively matches experimental data for different glass formers.

Abstract

Soft glassy materials experience a significant reduction in viscosity $\eta$ when subjected to shear flow, known as shear thinning. This phenomenon is characterized by a power-law scaling of $\eta$ with the shear rate $\dot{\gamma}$, $\eta \propto \dot{\gamma}^{-\nu}$, where the exponent $\nu$ is typically around $0.7$ to $0.8$ across different materials. Two decades ago, the mode coupling theory (MCT) suggested that shear thinning occurs due to the advection. However, it predicts too large $\nu = 1$ (> $0.7$ to $0.8$) and overestimates the onset shear rate by orders of magnitude. Recently, it was claimed that a minute distortion of the particle configuration is responsible for shear thinning. Here we extend the MCT to include the distortion, and find that both advection and distortion contribute to shear thinning, but the latter is dominant. Our formulation works quantitatively for several different glass formers. We explain why shear thinning is universal for many glassy materials.