Alignment of worm-like micelles at intermediate and high shear rates.

Hypothesis: Rheology combined with Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (Rheo-SANS) can determine the local structural order in Worm-Like Micelle (WLM) solutions when the shear rate increases beyond the ending of the gradient shear banding. There, micelles are supposedly aligned, but viscosity reveals a transition regime as the shear rate increases.

Experiments: The mixture of 3-[dimethyl(tetradecyl)azaniumyl]propane-1-sulfonate (TDPS), sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) (R = [SDS]/[TDPS] = 0.

Structure, rheology, and microrheology of wormlike micelles made of PB-PEO diblock copolymers.

A diblock copolymer made of poly(1,4-butadiene)-block-polyethylene oxide, with a degree of polymerization of the polybutadiene and polyethylene oxide blocks of 37 and 57, respectively, self-assembles in water as worm-like micelles determined by small angle neutron scattering with an average diameter of ∼12.7 nm, a core radius of ∼2.7 nm, a shell radius of ∼3 nm, and an estimated persistence length of >225 nm.

Worm-like micelles in water solutions of 1, 4 poly (1, 3-butadiene)-polyethylene oxide diblock copolymer.

The main purpose of this study is to determine for the first time the structure of the self-assembled aggregates in the system made of 1,4 poly(1,3-butadiene)-polyethylene oxide diblock copolymer (IUPAC name: poly(but-2-ene-1,4-diyl)-block-polyoxyethylene) and water, and the rheological behavior of the solution. The degree of polymerization of the polybutadiene and polyethylene oxide blocks is 37 and 45, respectively. The diblock copolymer concentration was limited to be ≤2.