Electro-rheological fluids (ERF) are suspensions of solid particles in a dielectric fluid [Wikipedia].
Lior Chertkow established a micro shadowgraphy PIV research station using microPIV setup in the Prof. Avi Seifert laboratory to study the details of the ERF flow in rectangular microchannels. The main focus is on the hydrodynamic phenomena during the sharp transition from a low, Newtonian viscosity of the dielectric fluid to the solid-like effective viscosity of the solution in an electrical field.