Congratulations to Avishek Kumar, PhD student at the IITB–Monash Research Academy, supervised by Prof. P. Sunthar (IIT Bombay) and Prof. J. Ravi Prakash (Monash University). His groundbreaking research introducing the persistent-worm model for the mesoscopic simulation of wormlike micelles (WLMs) has been featured on the cover of the Journal of Rheology.

This work presents a significant advance in modeling complex fluids. The study introduces the concept of a “persistent worm”—the smallest structural unit of a wormlike micelle—represented using a bead-spring chain with reversible fusion and scission. This innovative model captures realistic micelle length distributions, semiflexibility, hydrodynamic interactions, and the dynamic formation of rings and linear chains.

The simulations accurately reproduce universal scaling laws and provide new insights into viscoelastic behaviour, offering a powerful tool for predicting the rheology of WLM solutions across dilute and semidilute regimes.

Read the full article:
A mesoscopic model for the rheology of dilute and semidilute solutions of wormlike micelles
(Journal of Rheology, Featured Cover Article)