End-to-End Fusion of Polymer-like Micelles in the Lecithin Organogel under the Action of an Electric Field

Abstract

The effects of an external electric field on the lecithin organogels consisting of polymer-like micelles have been studied by means of oscillatory rheology. It was shown that the applied voltage changed the rheological behavior. Frequency dependencies of complex viscosity and storage modulus had intermediate plateaus that were evidence of an appearance of a new additional relaxation process. An examination of the results in the framework of an approach used in the rheology of polymer blends led to a conclusion that the electric field induced a fusion of a fraction of the polymer-like micelles. The organogel under the applied voltage is made up of uniform micellar aggregates of various lengths. A possible mechanism is considered.