Surface tension reduction INDEX

Commercially, the production and use of surfactants is dominated by modified hydrocarbon-based chemicals. In a number of instances, however, a hydrocarbon-type surfactant will not provide the desired product attributes or performance and, in such cases, two options are presented. One involves reformulation of the product to accommodate a hydrocarbon-type surfactant and the other is the use of a fluorosurfactant. Fluorosurfactants behave typically as would a hydrocarbon type except that properties such as surface tension reduction are larger in magnitude. Furthermore, the presence of fluorine in the hydrophobic portion of the molecule causes them to differ from their hydrocarbon counterparts in more subtle ways that have commercial importance. An example of a difference would be the reduced dielectric constant or index of refraction of a fluorosurfactant compared to its hydrocarbon analog. While this maybe of no consequence when formulating cleaners, it most certainly exists in a number of electronics applications. 

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