| A phase field method to simulate morphological transitions of interfaces in soft materials such as surfactant self-assembled structures is developed and simulations are presented. The model captures both self-assembly of micelles and the effect of interface-curvature elastic-energy on their morphologies. Simulations of single micelle growth in dilute solutions reveal several previously unknown morphological transitions, including a disk-to-cylinder transition and a tip-splitting instability of cylindrical micelles. We propose the these morphological instabilities provide for the branched micelle structure that have been observed and which have significant effects on rheological properties of solutions. The possiblity of application to small-scale biological processes will be discussed. |
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