Rheology and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements under shear of sodium dodecyl sulfate/decanol/water nematics

We report on the rheology and deuteron nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements performed on the nematic lyotropic system sodium dodecyl sulfate, decanol, and water. For total surfactant and cosurfactant concentrations of about 30% by weight, we prepared nematic calamitic NC and nematic discotic ND solutions. We have studied the flow behavior of the NC and ND phases in terms of the transient shear stress using different rheological histories. In flow-reversal experiments, the transient response exhibits nonperiodic oscillations in the region of small deformations (γ=20), which is followed by a long-lasting relaxation toward the stationary state. In the pseudo-Newtonian regime of the viscosity, we have found that the stress, when normalized to its long term value and plotted versus deformation, is shear-rate independent. 2H NMR measurements at rest and under shear were performed on nematic calamitic and discotic solutions prepared in D2O. At rest, the NMR spectra exhibit well-resolved doublet structures, which indicate an alignment of the director along the axis of the magnetic field. At shear rates large enough (γ̇ > 0.3 s−1), alignment is achieved with respect to the flow velocity. One finds alignment angles of 12 ° and 105 ° for the directors of the calamitic and discotic phase, respectively. Combining the results obtained by rheology and by NMR, we provide strong evidence that the NC and ND nematics of the sodium dodecyl sulfate / decanol system are textured nematics of the flow-aligning type.