Dynamics and scission of rodlike cationic surfactant micelles in shear flow.
Flow-induced configuration dynamics and scission of rodlike micelles are studied for the first time using molecular dynamics simulations in the presence of an explicit solvent and salt. Predicted dependence of tumbling frequency and orientation distribution on shear rate S agrees with mesoscopic theories. However, micelle stretching increases the distance between the cationic head groups and adsorbed counterions, which reduces electrostatic screening and increases the overall energy Φ linearly with micelle length. Micelle scission occurs when Φ exceeds a threshold value, independent of S.
Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
Abhinanden
A
Sambasivam
Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, Oregon 97124, USA.
Ashish V
AV
Sangwai
Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.|Department of Physics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
Radhakrishna
R
Sureshkumar
D002412:Cations / Q000737:chemistry; D000077286:Cetrimonium; D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D008823:Micelles; D008956:Models, Chemical; D033081:Shear Strength; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics
D002412:Cations; D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds; D008823:Micelles; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D000077286:Cetrimonium