Wormlike Micelles revisited: A comparison of models for linear rheology

Abstract

We review a selection of models for wormlike micelles undergoing reptation and chain sequence rearrangement (e.g. reversible scission) and show that many different assumptions and approximations all produce similar predictions for linear rheology. Therefore, the inverse problem of extracting quantitative microscopic information from linear rheology data alone may be ill-posed without additional supporting data to specify the sequence rearrangement pathway. At the same time, qualitative parameter estimates can be obtained equally well from any of the models in question. Our study also provides a careful re-assessment of how to best reconcile artificial chain sequence rearrangement pathways (such as Poisson renewal) with physical processes like reversible scission.