Macromolecules, Vol.41, No.3, 804-814, 2008
Rheo-NMR of wormlike micelles formed from nonionic pluronic surfactants
Using a range of techniques combining theology and magnetic resonance, we here investigate the flow and alignment properties of wormlike micelles formed by a 5% w/w solution of the BASF difunctional block copolymer nonionic surfactant, Pluronic P105 in water along with 4.3% w/v 1-phenylethanol-d(5). A variety of shear-banding and alignment behaviors are observed, along with both stable and fluctuating flows. These strongly depend upon both temperature and applied shear rate. The deuterium- labelled alcohol enables study of alignment from quadrupole splitting, using a Hankel transform in the cylindrical geometry of our rheo-NMR cell.