Logarithmic Exchange Kinetics in Monodisperse Copolymeric Micelles

Fabián A. García Daza, Josep Bonet Avalos, and Allan D. Mackie
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 248001 – Published 16 June 2017

Abstract

Experimental measurements of the relaxation kinetics of copolymeric surfactant exchange for micellar systems unexpectedly show a peculiar logarithmic decay. Several authors use polydispersity as an explanation for this behavior. However, in coarse-grained simulations that preserve microscopic details of the surfactants, we find evidence of the same logarithmic behavior. Since we use a strictly monodisperse distribution of chain lengths such a relaxation process cannot be attributed to polydispersity, but has to be caused by an inherent physical process characteristic of this type of system. This is supported by the fact that the decay is specifically logarithmic and not a power law with an exponent inherited from the particular polydispersity distribution of the sample. We suggest that the degeneracy of the energy states of the hydrophobic block in the core, which is broken on leaving the micelle, can qualitatively explain the broad distribution of energy barriers, which gives rise to the observed nonexponential relaxation.

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  • Received 24 January 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.248001

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Fabián A. García Daza, Josep Bonet Avalos, and Allan D. Mackie*

  • Departament d’Enginyeria Química, ETSEQ, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda dels Països Catalans 26, 43007 Tarragona, Spain

  • *allan.mackie@urv.cat

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Vol. 118, Iss. 24 — 16 June 2017

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