Micelle fragmentation and wetting in confined flow

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to explore how flow, confinement, and surface wettability influence micelle behavior, including fragmentation and wetting, in nano-confined channels under non-equilibrium conditions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how flow and surface properties affect micelle fragmentation and wetting in nano-confined flows, highlighting the interplay of hydrodynamics and surface interactions.

Findings

Wettability controls micelle fragmentation and size of daughter micelles.

Flow rate and surface properties determine micelle stability.

Micelle fragmentation occurs when confined in channels smaller than equilibrium size.

Abstract

We use coarse-grained molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the structural and dynamical properties of micelles under non-equilibrium Poiseuille flow in a nano-confined geometry. The effects of flow, confinement, and the wetting properties of die-channel walls on spherical sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles are explored when the micelle is forced through a die-channel slightly smaller than its equilibrium size. Inside the channel, the micelle may fragment into smaller micelles. In addition to the flow rate, the wettability of the channel surfaces dictates whether the micelle fragments and determines the size of the daughter micelles: The overall behavior is determined by the subtle balance between hydrodynamic forces, micelle-wall interactions and self-assembly forces.