Temperature-induced growth of wormlike copolymer micelles.

We study the temperature-induced growth of polymer micelles based on Pluronic P84 in brine (2 M NaCl) using small-angle neutron scattering, static and dynamic light scattering, and viscometry as a function of temperature and polymer concentration. Spherical micelles below 30 degrees C are shown to grow between about 30 and 40 degrees C into wormlike micelles long enough to enter the semidilute regime for polymer volume fraction larger than 0.005. The entanglements in this regime are responsible for a huge increase in the viscosity. Above about 41 degrees C, the micellar aggregates become denser as the cloud point is approached and the viscosity drops.