Order–disorder transition of micellar aqueous solution of hydrophobically modified polyethyleneglycol (C12E25)

Aggregation behavior of hydrophobically modified ethyleneglycol oligomer, poly(ethylene glycol) monododecyl ether (C12E25), in aqueous solution has been studied in wide ranges of concentration and temperature by means of light scattering, X-ray scattering, and linear-viscoelastic measurements. C12E25 forms stable micelles in dilute solution. It is found that the micellar solution exhibits the sol–gel transition accompanied with disorder-to-order structural transition as increasing concentration at lower temperatures, or with decreasing temperature at higher concentrations. The transition concentration is located around 30 wt% irrespective of temperature, while the transition temperature is about 56 °C independent of concentration. In the gel region, the micellar particles form a long-range order structure of body-centered cubic lattice.