Structural and rheological study of reverse wormlike micelles formed by bile salt and lecithin in the presence of solutes

Abstract

The presented project involves the study of the effect of different solutes in systems formed by reverse wormlike micelles that spontaneously form in an organic medium containing a surfactant and an appropriate salt. The structure of these giant micelles can be sensibly altered by the addition of certain solutes, which are chosen on the basis of their polarities and molecular size. The chemical nature of the added solute affects its distribution within micelles and in the dispersed phase. Thus, changes in the morphology of the giant micelle directly affect the rheology of these systems. Thus, in this work, we intend to study the effects of polar or nonpolar monomeric and polymeric solutes (propylene glycol, poly(ethylene oxide) 3500 g mol-1, poly(propylene oxide) 3500 g mol-1, and poly(ethylene oxide) -poly(propylene oxide) 3500 g mol-1) on the structure of reverse giant micelles formed by the bile salt cholate and lecithin in cyclohexane using techniques such as rheology, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small angle X-rays scattering (SAXS) that allow obtaining the rheological and structural information of these aggregates in solution. The study will also involve cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) measurements, which will allow the direct visualization of the effects of solutes on the size and number of cross-links in wormlike micelles from the electron microscopy images.(AU)