Eur. Phys. J. E (2002) 8: 431-436
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2002-10026-0

Brownian motion of particles embedded in a solution of giant micelles

¹ L.D.F.C., CNRS UMR 7506, 3 rue de l'Université, 67084, Strasbourg, France
² Université Cadi Ayyad, Faculté des Sciences, Semlalia LEI, Marrakech, Morocco
³ L.P.M., CNRS UMR 7615, E.S.P.C.I., 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005, Paris, France

^* e-mail: pascal.hebraud@espci.fr

Received: 22 March 2002
Revised: 5 June 2002
Published online: 25 January 2014

Abstract

We have measured the mean-square displacement of colloidal particles embedded in a semi-dilute solution of worm-like micelles, using diffusing wave spectroscopy. This allowed us to describe their rheological properties over a very wide time range. At very short times, the particles diffuse freely in the solvent, and then, they experience the characteristic relaxation times of the living chains. We deduced directly, from the mean-square displacement of the particles, the mechanical properties of the micellar solution, not only in the high-frequency regime, but also in the low-frequency range, in which we compared our results with direct mechanical measurements, and found good agreement.