Rheological and rheo-SALS investigation of the multi-lamellar vesicle formation in the C 12E 3/D 2O system

Usually in nonionic surfactant aqueous systems of the CnEm type, a lamellar phase occurs over a wide temperature and concentration range. For some CnEm surfactants, multi-lamellar vesicle (MLV) formation has been observed when the lamellar phase is subjected to shear flow.This communication reports the shear flow behavior at different shear rate values of a CnEm (where "n" is 12 and "m" is 3) aqueous system at 34 degrees C. The typical transient viscosity behavior of the shear-induced MLV formation in C12E3/D2O at 50 wt% of surfactant has been observed. The MLV formation is confirmed by time-resolved rheo-small angle light scattering (SALS) experiments. The experimental data show an intermediate structure that has been attributed to a multi-lamellar cylinders (MLCs). (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved