Dynamics of branched threadlike micelles

The rheological behavior of a cationic surfactant trimer, recently suggeste d to form blanched threadlike micelles, is reported. Comparison with the ho mologous dimer, which forms strictly linear micelles, shows that the main c onsequence of branching is a distinctive concentration dependence of the el astic modulus. When the system is not fully entangled, a decrease of the el astic modulus suggests a contraction of the radius of gyration due to branc hing. In the fully entangled regime, the elasticity enhancement provides a measure of the junction density.