Aggregate morphology and flow behaviour of micellar alkylglycoside solutions

Solutions of n-nonyl-β-D-glucoside (C₉G₁), n-decyl-β-D-glucoside (C₁₀G₁), n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside (C₁₂G₂), n-tetradecyl-β-D-maltoside (C₁₄G₂) and C₉G₁/C₁₀G₁ mixtures have been characterised by capillary viscometry and rheology in H₂O and D₂O, in order to map the influence of surfactant characteristics on micellisation over a wide concentration range. For the maltosides, the micellar solutions are shear thinning with a zero-shear viscosity that scales with concentration according to a power law with an exponent of about 5.8. In contrast, solutions of the glucosides C₉G₁, C₁₀G₁ and their mixtures show Newtonian flow behaviour and a much lower scaling exponent (<2.4). In C₉G₁/C₁₀G₁ mixtures, the scaling exponent decreases monotonously with increasing C₁₀G₁ content. The flow behaviour correlates with the packing requirements of the various surfactants, and are compatible with the idea that the maltosides form worm-like micelles, whereas the glucosides form branched, interconnected micelles (C₉G₁) and space-filling micellar networks (C₁₀G₁).