FLOW BEHAVIOR AND SHEAR-INDUCED TRANSITION NEAR AN ISOTROPIC-NEMATIC TRANSITION IN EQUILIBRIUM POLYMERS

We present rheological and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measu rements under flow of wormlike micelles solutions (CPClO3 in 0.05 M Na ClO3) near an isotropic-nematic phase transition. Near the nematic tra nsition, orientational correlations are put into evidence at equilibri um. The analysis of both nonlinear rheological and SANS behaviors unde r flow, of samples approaching the nematic phase at rest, reveals that there is an isotropic-nematic shear induced phase transition, which d iffers from the shear induced alignment observed far from the isotropi c-nematic transition in other similar systems.