Swelling and shrinking kinetics of a lamellar gel phase

We investigate the swelling and shrinking of L_beta lamellar gel phases composed of surfactant and fatty alcohol after contact with aqueous poly(ethylene-glycol) solutions. The height change \(\Delta h(t)\) is diffusion-like with a swelling coefficient, S: \(\Delta h = S \sqrt{t}\). On increasing po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2008-04
Main Authors: Fairhurst, David J, Baker, Mark E, Shaw, Neil, Egelhaaf, Stefan U
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dependence
Diffusion coefficient
Lamellar gels
Lamellar structure
Phase diagrams
Swelling
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We investigate the swelling and shrinking of L_beta lamellar gel phases composed of surfactant and fatty alcohol after contact with aqueous poly(ethylene-glycol) solutions. The height change \(\Delta h(t)\) is diffusion-like with a swelling coefficient, S: \(\Delta h = S \sqrt{t}\). On increasing polymer concentration we observe sequentially slower swelling, absence of swelling, and finally shrinking of the lamellar phase. This behavior is summarized in a non-equilibrium diagram and the composition dependence of S quantitatively described by a generic model. We find a diffusion coefficient, the only free parameter, consistent with previous measurements.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.0804.1052