ABSTRACT
In the nonlinear regime, the EHUT solutions display some similarities with wormlike micelles. A major difference with wormlike micelles is that in the case of EHUT solutions, the viscoelastic behavior can be switched to the purely viscous behavior. Moreover, the transition has been shown to be fast, reversible, and extremely cooperative: the conversion of thin filaments into thick filaments occurs within a temperature range of 5°C only. In suitable conditions, both wormlike micelles and supramolecular polymers form long reversible chains with similar rheological properties, but there is a most significant difference between them. In contrast, wormlike micelles form because of the overall structure of the monomer: the relevant parameter is the packing parameter measuring the balance between the hydro-phobic tail, the polar head group, and the counterion. Designing a wormlike micelle which would present two different end-caps is certainly a difficult task.
