Effects of surfactant micelles on viscosity and conductivity of poly(ethylene glycol) solutions

The polymer-micelle interaction was investigated for various surfactants using viscometry and electric conductometry. The interaction was analyzed by examining the change in the transport properties and the change in the onset point of the thermodynamic instability for an aqueous mixture of polymer and surfactant. It was found that addition of a particular surfactant results in significant viscosity increment of the polymer solution and addition to the polymers lowers the onset point of self-assembly associated with the dilute surfactant solution. The rapid growth of the viscosity with surfactant concentration was related to the formation of cross links among micelles and polymers.