Temperature sensitivity of wormlike micelles in poly(oxyethylene) surfactant solution: Importance of hydrophobic-group size

We have studied the temperature sensitivity of the rheology of the wormlike micellar solutions formed in poly(oxyethylene) cholesteryl ether (ChEO(mm), m = 15 and 30) upon addition of tri(ethyleneglycol) mono n-dodecyl ether (C12EO3) and monolaurin. We have found that increasing the poly(oxyethylene) chain length of ChEO(m) greatly reduces the temperature-sensitivity of the viscosity of the solution. In the viscous region small changes in the cosurfactant composition can subtly change the temperature sensitivity depending on the temperature range and type of cosurfactant. For, C12EO3, which is a poly(oxyethylene) surfactant, the temperature sensitivity is lower at lower temperatures and higher at higher temperatures if the cosurfactant mixing fraction is high and vice versa if the mixing fraction is low. For monolaurin, the temperature sensitivity increases With cosurfactant mixing fraction in the viscous region. In the ChEO(30)-monolaurin system viscous solutions are not formed at any temperature that we studied. We have discussed these results in terms of the reduction of the average curvature of micellar interface with temperature due to dehydration of the poly(oxyethylene) chain and formation of branches in long micelles. We indicate the scientific and technical significance of our findings. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.