Microstructure and rheology of a flow-induced structured phase in wormlike micellar solutions.

ABSTRACT: Surfactant molecules can self-assemble into various morphologies under proper combinations of ionic strength, temperature, and flow conditions. At equilibrium, wormlike micelles can transition from entangled to branched and multiconnected structures with increasing salt concentration. Under certain flow conditions, micellar structural transitions follow different trajectories. In this work, we consider the flow of two semidilute wormlike micellar solutions through microposts, focusing on their microstructural and rheological evolutions. Both solutions contain cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and sodium salicylate. One is weakly viscoelastic and shear thickening, whereas the other is strongly viscoelastic and shear thinning. When subjected to strain rates of ∼10(3) s(-1) and strains of ∼10(3)

SUBMITTER: Cardiel JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3645548 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature