Surfactant small introduction

Surfactant

Surfactants are molecules formed from two distinct particles, one with very strong lipophilicity and the other with very strong hydrophilicity. After dissolving in water, surfactants reduce the surface tension of water and increase the solubility of organic compounds.

The range of surfactants is very broad (cationic, anionic, non-ionic and amphoteric) and provides a variety of functions for specific applications including foaming effects, surface modification, cleaning, emulsions, rheology, environmental and health protection.

Surfactants are used as performance additives in many industrial formulations, such as personal and home care, as well as numerous industrial applications: metal processing, industrial cleaning, oil extraction, pesticides, and the like.

composition

The molecular structure of the surfactant is amphiphilic: one is a hydrophilic group and the other is a hydrophobic group.

principle

By the affinity of the different parts of the molecule for the two phases, both phases are considered as the components of the phase, and the molecules are arranged between the two phases, so that the surfaces of the two phases are equivalent to being transferred into the interior of the molecule. This reduces the surface tension. Since both phases regard it as a component of this phase, it is equivalent to the fact that neither phase nor the surfactant molecule forms an interface, which is equivalent to partially eliminating the interface of the two phases in this way and reducing the Surface tension and surface free energy.

Adsorptivity

Positive adsorption in solution: increased wetting, emulsifying, foaming;

Adsorption on solid surfaces: non-polar solid surface monolayer adsorption;

Multiple layers of adsorption can occur on a polar solid surface.