Shear rheology and porous media flow of wormlike micelle solutions formed by mixtures of surfactants of opposite charge

Mario R. Rojas, Alejandro J. Müller, A. Eduardo Sáez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

81 Scopus citations

Abstract

The rheology of solutions of wormlike micelles formed by oppositely charged surfactant mixtures (cationic cetyl trimethylammonium p-toluene sulfonate, CTAT, and anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS), in the dilute and semi-dilute regimes, were studied under simple shear and porous media flows. Aqueous mixtures of CTAT and SDS formed homogeneous solutions for SDS/CTAT molar ratios below 0.12. Solutions of mixtures exhibited a strong synergistic effect in shear viscosity, especially in the semi-dilute regime with respect to wormlike micelles, reaching a four order of magnitude increase in the zero-shear rate viscosity for solutions with 20 mM CTAT. Oscillatory shear results demonstrated that the microstructure of CTAT wormlike micelles is sensitive to SDS addition. The cross-over relaxation times of wormlike micelles of 20 mM CTAT solutions increased by three orders of magnitude with the addition of up to 2 mM of SDS, and the solutions became increasingly elastic. The shear thickening process observed in shear rheology became more pronounced in porous media flow due to the formation of stronger cooperative structures induced by the extensional component of the flow.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)221-226
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Colloid And Interface Science
Volume326
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2008

Keywords

  • CTAT
  • SDS
  • Surfactant mixtures
  • Wormlike micelles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Biomaterials
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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