Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.108, No.30, 11236-11243, 2004
Viscoelastic properties of hydrocarbon/fluorocarbon mixed wormlike micelles at high ionic strength
The mixed micellization between the perfluorooctylbutane trimethylammonium bromide (C8F17) and the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactants in the presence of KBr has been investigated. Surface tension experiments revealed a demixed micelles behavior. At high ionic strength ([KBr] greater than or equal to 100 mM), semidilute solutions exhibit a phase separation between vesicles and micelles when the molar ratio R = [C8F17]/([C8F17] + [CTAB]) exceeds similar to0.3. In the monophasic domain, light scattering and T-jump experiments performed on the dilute regime as well as measurements by dynamic light scattering of the terminal viscoelastic relaxation time in the semidilute range suggest a continuous micellar growth as R increases. At lower ionic strength ([KBr] = 30 mM), the systems remain monophasic in the whole R range. The terminal relaxation time increases continuously with R, the increase becoming very steep in the vicinity of R = 1, which strongly suggests a structural transition within the micellar aggregates.