Flow Visualization Using Birefringence of Hyperswollen Lamellar Phase

Abstract

We have successfully visualized the flow using the birefringence of hyperswollen lamellar (HL) phase. We found that the bilayers of the HL phase orient parallel to the flow direction. We have confirmed that the polarized photographs of the HL phases look similar to the corresponding flow velocity fields obtained by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. This visualization method enables us to observe the flow continuously and three-dimensionally with our own eyes.