Micro/mesoscopic approaches to the ring formation in linear wormlike micellar systems

摘要

We hereby present i) a microscopic model for the self-assembly of linear wormlike micelles for which scission/recombination processes and loop formation are allowed, and ii) a mesoscopic analytic description of such systems. Both approaches predict the extent of loop formation as function of the micellar concentration, the end-cap energy and the flexibility of micelles. As a matter of fact, even if loop formation is unfavorable under many conditions, e.g., for stiff micelles and low end cap energies, they have to be treated correctly in any statistical approach to their behavior, since their presence can significantly affect the relaxation time spectrum, the rheological behavior and correlation function of various types. [References: 22]