Dynamics of Wormlike Micelles in Elongational Flows

Published

January 1, 2006

Author(s)

Philip A. Stone, Paul Dalhaimer, Dennis E. Discher, Eric J. Amis, Steven D. Hudson, Kalman D. Migler

Abstract

Micelles formed of amphiphilic diblock copolymers may have applications in drug delivery and in understanding the physics of biological structures. Wormlike micelles, in particular, provide an opportunity to study the behavior of semiflexible rods in elongational flows. We utilize microfluidic devices coupled with fluorescence microscopy to study the dynamics of wormlike micelles formed from amphiphilic diblock copolymers. Individual micelles are imaged in a planar elongational flow generated by a simple cross-flow device with dimensions of the order of 100 microns. A sharp transition is seen between the regime where Brownian motion dominates the micellar dynamics and where the micelles stretch with the flow. For a solvent viscosity, hs = 4 cP, this transition occurs in the range of elongation rates, 0.5

Citation

Macromolecules

Volume

39

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Brownian dynamics, elongational flow, fluorescence microscopy, microfluidics, wormlike micelles

Citation

Stone, P. , Dalhaimer, P. , Discher, D. , Amis, E. , Hudson, S. and Migler, K. (2006), Dynamics of Wormlike Micelles in Elongational Flows, Macromolecules, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852525 (Accessed November 5, 2025)