ИСТИНА

Surfactant molecules can self-assemble and form long wormlike micelles which behave like reversibly breakable polymers. Above an overlap concentration wormlike micelles form an entangled network what imparts viscoelastic properties to solutions. Surfactant molecules are bound by weak non-covalent interactions within the micelle, therefore viscoelastic micellar solutions are highly responsive to external stimuli, e.g. the addition of hydrocarbons. Due to this effect surfactant solutions find wide applications as fracturing fluids in oil recovery. In the present work we investigate in detail the whole range of transition of wormlike micelles into microemulsion droplets induced by hydrocarbon.