Applications of Complex Fluids

Dear Colleagues,

All fluids that exhibit a complex behavior as a result of a non-linear relationship between stress and deformation are considered as Complex Fluids. This sort of fluid stands between Hooke's law for an ideal elastic material and Newton's law of viscosity for an ideal viscous liquid. Thus, complex fluids encompass most synthetic and biological fluids, and, consequently, have a tremendous importance in the success of processes associated with industry and health.
Many interesting behaviors of complex fluids (shear thickening, viscoelasticity, thixotropy, etc.) are consequences of their formulations (macromolecules, particle-particle interactions, particle-molecules interactions, etc.) and bring associated many challenges, such as shelf-life, physico-chemical characterization, or processing. Additionally, the degeneration of some biological fluids is associated with some diseases, which results in a loss of their characteristic complex behavior and, consequently, impairing their performance, as in the case of synovial fluid in the protection of a joint. Moreover, the characteristic length-scale of the flow conditions can also be of extreme importance. In microscale processes, viscoelasticity can lead to flow instabilities at creeping flow conditions, which can, for example, be useful for enhancing mixing or oil recovery processes. Additionally, if the fluid is also sensitive to an external field (magnetic or electric), the complexity is even larger. Nevertheless, even in this latter circumstance, complex fluids can exhibit useful performances from a practical point of view, i.e., ferrofluids, magneto-rheological fluids, and electro-rheological fluids.
All the cited applications of complex fluids, and many more, require extensive fundamental work to become reality. There are indeed many difficulties to overcome, due to the non-linearity between stresses and deformation, but the benefits to be achieved can also be large. During the last century, fundamental and applied research has been paving the way toward practical applications of complex fluids. Progressively, worldwide efforts have led to a better knowledge and an increasing know-how in the formulation, characterization, modeling, manipulation, and processing of complex fluid. This Special Issue is expected to gather contributions that describe recent results obtained in various active fields of complex fluids and to demonstrate how said results can be important in light of application.

Dr. Francisco José Galindo-Rosales
Guest Editor

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