Colloidal suspensions driven out of equilibrium by flow

When particles of micron size are dispersed throughout a Newtonian fluid such as water, the suspension is commonly denoted as a colloidal suspension and can exhibit diverse mechanical and transport properties.  For example, the viscosity of our blood (which can be viewed as a suspension of red blood cells from a materials perspective), which is a critical parameter of the cardiovascular system, varies as a function of blood flow rate.  For many practical applications, it is of great value to be able to manipulate these properties by controlling the microstructure—the spatial organization of the dispersed particles, with an external field such as a fluid flow.  Realization of such a manipulation requires knowledge about two things: how to identify the exact microstructure underlying the desired macroscopic properties; and how particle characteristics, and their interaction with the external field, generate particular microstructures.