Microfluidics enhanced control of the microstructure and flow of complex fluids

Microfluidic devices enable rapid fluid transport, well controlled flow manipulation for small sample volumes, and facilitate high shear and extension rates regimes with case. These features are critical to the study of fast self-assembly process and interfacial dynamics of complex fluids, and have opened up many exciting possibilities in areas such as biology, physics, chemistry and their technological applications, As the dimensions of the microdevices decrease, the interaction between the intrinsic length-scales of the fluid and the microdevice emerges. In this article, we provide a review on confinement and flow induced rheological and microstructure changes for complex fluids flowing inside microfluidic devices. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.