黏弹性表面活性剂（II）——蠕虫状胶束形成机理及体系构成

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2097-2806.2026.02.001

Abstract

Abstract:

Wormlike micelles（WLMs）, as versatile one-dimensional nanostructures, impart unique viscoelasticity and shear responsiveness to fluids, making them essential functional materials across numerous industrial and biomedical applications. This review delineates their formation mechanisms and system compositions to provide a theoretical basis for rational surfactant design. WLMs arise from a thermodynamic-kinetic interplay: the hydrophobic effect drives assembly, while headgroup repulsion balances it, with the critical packing parameter guiding the transition to cylindrical morphology. Adjusting molecular structure or milieu such as salt addition or aromatic counterion incorporation modulates curvature to favor elongation. Kinetically, these systems sustain dynamic equilibrium through scission, recombination, and exchange across timescales, governing stress relaxation and rheology. System formulations are categorized into cationic, anionic, zwitterionic, and nonionic types, employing strategies such as high-concentration long-chain surfactants, salt screening, hydrotrope synergism via cation-π interactions, and cosurfactant blending. Notably, ultra-long-chain surfactants（>C₁₈）enable strong viscoelasticity at low concentrations, offering practical and theoretical advantages. Future work should prioritize quantitative insight through advanced characterization and simulation, establish predictive structure-property relationships, and develop stimuli-responsive WLMs for adaptive and sustainable technologies. Such advances will deepen colloidal science and accelerate next-generation soft material innovation.

Key words: viscoelastic surfactant, wormlike micelles, thermodynamics, kinetics, self-assembly

CLC Number:

TQ423

Yujun Feng. Viscoelastic surfactants（II）Formation mechanisms and system formulations of wormlike micelles[J].China Surfactant Detergent & Cosmetics, 2026, 56(2): 137-148.

Figures/Tables 5

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References 59

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Viscoelastic surfactants（II）Formation mechanisms and system formulations of wormlike micelles

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