CHARGE-INDUCED NEMATIC ISOTROPIC TRANSITION IN MIXED SURFACTANT SOLUTIONS

The present paper investigates the effect of coulomb interaction on th e nematic phase and the isotropic phase observed in the CTAB-SHNC mixe d system. It is shown that the observed N-I transition temperatures de pend quadratically on the charge Z of the rod like micelles as expecte d from an extension of the Maier-Saupe theory. Salt effects are shown to increase the transition temperature supporting the concept of a cha rge induced isotropic state introduced by the theory.