ENTANGLED VERSUS MULTICONNECTED NETWORK OF WORMLIKE MICELLES

The static and dynamic properties of solutions of cetylpyridinium chlorate micelles in 0.1 and 1 M NaClO3 brine are studied by light scattering, rheology, and fluorescence recovery after bleaching. The static results lead to a description of the solutions of wormlike micelles as analogous to semidilute solutions of polymers in good solvent. However the dynamic properties are different from those predicted for solutions of equilibrium (''living'') polymers. Comparison of the results in the two studied systems lead us to propose that, with increasing salt content, the network of wormlike micelles has an increasing proportion of connections. It is argued that the existence of a certain proportion of connections modifies the reptation mechanism for the relaxation of stress and ultimately allows new mechanisms for the relaxation of stress to become operative.