Effects of flexibility and entanglement of sodium hyaluronate in solutions on the entry flow in micro abrupt contraction-expansion channels

In this study, the effects of polymer flexibility and entanglement on elastic instability were investigated by observing sodium hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid sodium salt, Na-HA) solution in planar abrupt contraction-expansion microchannels. As the rigidity of Na-HA depends on the ionic strength of a solvent, Na-HA was dissolved in water and phosphate buffered saline with concentrations from 0.15 wt. % to 0.45 wt. %. The rheological properties were measured and analyzed to detect the Na-HA overlap and entanglement concentrations. The flow regimes of the Na-HA solutions in several planar abrupt contraction-expansion channels were characterized in the Reynolds number and Weissenberg number space. The effects of the solvent, solution concentration, and channel geometry on the elastic corner vortex growth curve and flow regimes characterized by the Weissenberg number were analyzed. It was found that the entanglement of Na-HA in the solution is a more dominant factor affecting the flow regimes than the solution relaxation time and polymer rigidity.