Temperature and flow-induced viscosity transitions for CTAB surfactant solutions

We report in this work new results concerning the temperature dependence of the non-Newtonian viscosity of semi-diluted aqueous micellar solutions of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the presence of potassium bromide (KBr). Two structural transitions are responsible for the unusual flow curves obtained. The first transition induced by the shear flow corresponds to an induced liquid crystalline phase of the nematic type; the second corresponds to the disappearing of this phase with increase of the temperature.