Finger-like pattern formation in dilute surfactant pentaethylene glycol monododecyl ether solutions
Autor: | Yasuhiro Yokoyama, Yoshihide Kubo, Shinpei Tanaka |
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Rok vydání: | 2013 |
Předmět: |
Materials science
Pentaethylene glycol monododecyl ether education Nucleation General Physics and Astronomy Pattern formation Micelle chemistry.chemical_compound Colloid chemistry Pulmonary surfactant Chemical physics Organic chemistry Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Elongation Elasticity (economics) |
Zdroj: | The Journal of Chemical Physics. 138:134901 |
ISSN: | 1089-7690 0021-9606 |
Popis: | We report here peculiar finger-like patterns observed during the phase separation process of dilute micellar pentaethylene glycol monododecyl ether solutions. The patterns were composed of parallel and periodic threads of micelle-rich domains. Prior to this pattern formation, the phase separation always started with the appearance of water-rich domains rimmed by the micelle-rich domains. It was found that these rims played a significant role in the pattern formation. We explain this pattern formation using a simple simulation model with disconnectable springs. The simulation results suggested that the spatially inhomogeneous elasticity or connectivity of a transient gel of worm-like micelles was responsible for the rim formation. The rims thus formed lead rim-induced nucleation, growth, and elongation of the domains owing to their small mobility and the elastic frustration around them. These rim-induced processes eventually produce the observed finger-like patterns. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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