Weak interactions-Strong effects: Key role of hydrophobic interaction in the formation of stimuli-responsive viscoelastic gel of worm-like micelles

Abstract

Among all the weak interactions, which are operative in the domain of chemistry, hydrophobic effect is one that leads to new structural motifs like molecular self-assemblies viz., micelles, vesicles etc. Worm-like micelles are polymer like aggregates which have been formed in aqueous surfactant solutions in the presence of additives. These are relatively new materials with exciting material properties. These stimuli-responsive viscoelastic materials are interesting from both fundamental understanding as well as application points of view. The physico-chemical properties of worm-like micelles are studied and the morphological transitions to vesicle as functions of various parameters have been investigated.