Exploring the transition from wall slip to bulk shearing banding in well-entangled DNA solutions

In this study we have carried out a combination of rheometric and particle-tracking velocimetric (PTV) measurements to investigate nonlinear theological behavior of three entangled DNA solutions (with ca. 150 entanglements per chain) and, in particular, to explore a transformation from slip-dominated steady-state flow to bulk shear inhomogeneity. In the stress plateau regime, an elastic recoil-like response occurs transiently at either interfaces or sample interior after stress overshoot during a startup shear. In both startup shear and creep mode, wall slip, bulk shear banding or a combination of both have been observed in both transient and steady states. The water-based solution shows massive wall slip allowing the bulk to remain in the Newtonian flow regime. Use of glycerol as a solvent can effectively reduce interfacial slip, permitting bulk shear banding to develop in both controlled-rate and controlled-stress modes. For the glycerol based solution, a sufficiently high Weissenberg number can attain in the rheometer where PTV observations reveal homogenous shear in steady state.