Surfactants surface activity

The unique surface characteristics of polysiloxanes mean that they are extensively used as surfactants. Silicone surfactants have been thoroughly studied and described in numerous articles. For an extensive, in-depth discussion of this subject, a recent chapter by Hill,476 and his introductory chapter in the monograph he later edited,477 are excellent references. In the latter monograph, many aspects of silicone surfactants are described in 12 chapters. In the introduction, Hill discusses the chemistry of silicone surfactants, surface activity, aggregation behavior of silicone surfactants in various media, and their key applications in polyurethane foam manufacture, in textile and fiber industry, in personal care, and in paint and coating industries. All this information (with 200 cited references) provides a broad background for the discussion of more specific issues covered in other chapters. Thus, surfactants based on silicone polyether co-polymers are surveyed.478 Novel siloxane surfactant structures,479 surface activity and aggregation phenomena,480 silicone surfactants application in the formation of polyurethane foam,481 foam control and... 

The Hamiltonian of a single isolated nanoparticle consists of the magnetic anisotropy (which creates preferential directions of the magnetic moment orientation) and the Zeeman energy (which is the interaction energy between the magnetic moment and an external field). In the ensembles, the nanoparticles are supposed to be well separated by a nonconductive medium [i.e., a ferrofluid in which the particles are coated with a surfactant (surface-active agent)]. The... 

Surfactants are additive chemicals which possess surface modifying properties—i.e., they possess the ability to reduce the surface energy of solvents at low concentrations. Many chemical substances qualify for inclusion under the name surfactant, and McCutcheon (41) lists over 3000 commercial materials. Many other chemicals not listed by McCutcheon also qualify as surfactants (surface-active agents). 

Generally, surfactants (surface-active agents) may facilitate and accentuate the emulsifying, dispersing, spreading, wetting, solubilizing,... 

Eqs. (7.8) - (7.11) indicate that a film containing a surfactant possesses indeed an elasticity ( /> 0). It follows also that the higher the surfactant surface activity and the thinner the film, the higher the modulus of elasticity is. However, since the bulk surfactant concentration in the film diminishes upon extension, the initial increase in the modulus can be followed by a decrease. The possibility of appearance of a maximum in elasticity at certain film thicknesses has been shown in [27]. 

Most softeners consist of molecules with both a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic part. Therefore, they can be classified as surfactants (surface active agents) and are to be found concentrated at the fibre surfaces. Most softeners have a low water solubility. Therefore softening products are usually sold as oil in water emulsions containing 20-30 % solids. The softener molecules typically contain a long alkyl group, sometimes branched, of more than 16 and up to 22 carbon atoms, but most have 18 corresponding to the stearyl residue. Exceptions to this molecular structure are the special categories of silicones, paraffins and polyethylene softeners. About one-third of the softeners used in the textile industry are silicone based. 

Surfactants—Surface-active agents, which means that they have the property of interacting with surfaces. 

Surfactant surface activity is most completely presented in the form of the Gibbs adsorption isotherm, the plot of solution surface tension versus the logarithm of surfactant concentration. For many pure surfactants, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) defines the limit above which surface tension does not change with concentration, because at this stage, the surface is saturated with surfactant molecules. The CMC is a measure of surfactant efficiency, and the surface tension at or above the CMC (the low-surface-tension plateau) is an index of surfactant effectiveness (Table XIII). A surfactant concentration of 1% was chosen where possible from these various dissimilar studies to ensure a surface tension value above the CMC. Surfactants with hydrophobes based on methylsiloxanes can achieve a low surface tension plateau for aqueous solutions of —21-22 mN/m. There is ample confirmation of this fact in the literature (86, 87). 

Surfactant -> Surface-active molecule with a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail... 

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