Shear induced crystallization and melting of a micellar solution

Abstract

Abstract Di-block copolymers of polystyrene-b-ethylene-co-propylene in the selective solvent dodecane form highly monodisperse spherical micelles. At concentrations above about 3 wt % these form microdomains with crystalline order, and the type of lattice appears to depend on the shear treatment of the sample. Formation of long range order is enabled by very low shear rates and gives rise in small angle neutron scattering experiments to a pattern of diffraction spots. The formation of the long range order and the melting at high shear rates has been followed in a sequence of SANS experiments carried out on samples contained in a Couette cell.