Surface tension reduction/foams/wetting

The practical importance of monolayer formation is generally because of its relationship to reduction of surface tension. Air—water surface tension can affect such important phenomena as contact angle with a solid surface (affecting flotation), rate of wetting of a solid, or foaming (with applications in enhanced oil recovery or fire extinguishers), just to name a few. Reduction of air—water surface tension could, for example, cause a liquid to spread on a solid instead of beading up on it. 

Sulfosuccinates are used in many different fields of application. For comprehensive overviews, see Refs 18,20-22. Sulfosuccinic acid dialkyl esters are weakly foaming surfactants with good wetting power. In particular, products on the basis of octanol or 2-ethyl hexanol are distinguished by their outstanding wetting properties. Even at a low concentration, they can cause a considerable reduction in the surface tension of aqueous solutions [21]. Sulfosuccinic acid dialkyl esters, on the basis of alcohols with fewer than nine carbon atoms, are water soluble. Branched alkyl groups increase the solubility [23],... 

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