ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the phenomenological connections between the growth and interactions of the giant micelles in solution and the macroscopic thermodynamic phase behavior that their solutions display. The linkage between microscopic structure and macroscopic phase separation can at least initially be thought of as arising from either intermicellar interactions or intramicellar rearrangements, although in practice both may change simultaneously. The statistical mechanics of that network can lead to phase separation upon dilution. The chapter discusses the Flow fields can affect the stability of solutions of giant micelles, and the features of shear-induced phase separation and how it is linked to the equilibrium phase behavior. It focuses on the central part of seminal schematic phase diagram, where wormlike micelles are found and form either entangled or branched networks that may ultimately phase-separate as a function of concentration or a field variable. In the dilute regime the micelles grow into threads, mildly affecting the solution viscosity.
