Wormlike micelles of polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers CiE j

Abstract

It is demonstrated that wormlike micelles of nonionic surfactants polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers H(CH2)i(OCH 2CH2)jOH (CiEj) have been successfully characterized by static (SLS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements and viscometry with the aid of the theories developed so far in the field of polymer solution studies, i.e., a molecular thermodynamic theory for light scattering, chain statistical and hydrodynamic theories for semi-flexible polymers. The results for the excess Rayleigh ratio, radius of gyration, hydrodynamic radius, and intrinsic viscosity have been shown to be well represented by the theories based on a wormlike spherocylinder model. Some salient features found for the micelles of CiEj with various i or j, their binary mixtures, and the micelles including n-alcohol and n-alkane are discussed. ©2009 The Society of Polymer Science, Japan.