Surfactants
General, Suppliers, Product, Process, Company, Consultancy, Reports, MSDS, Study, Synthesis
                                                               Primary Information Services                                                      
Home. Biosurfactants . Gemini Surfactants . Ordering Information. Contact

Project at a Glance

Contents on the CD Rom

• Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents,
  emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants.
• They enable the cleaning solution to fully wet the surface being cleaned so that dirt can be readily loosened and removed.They clean greasy, oily, particularly protein and carbohydrate-based stains. They are instrumental in removing dirt and in keeping them emulsified, suspended, and dispersed so they don't settle back onto the surface being cleaned.
• Surfactants are usually organic compounds that are amphiphilic, meaning they contain both hydrophobic groups (their tails) and hydrophilic groups (their heads). Therefore, a surfactant molecule contains both a water insoluble (or oil soluble) component and a water soluble component.
• Surfactant molecules will diffuse in water and adsorb at interfaces between air and water or at the interface between oil and water, in the case where water is mixed with oil.
• The insoluble hydrophobic group may extend out of the bulk water phase, into the air or into the oil phase, while the water soluble head group remains in the water phase. This alignment of surfactant molecules at the surface modifies the surface properties of water at the water/air or water/oil interface.
• In the bulk aqueous phase, surfactants form aggregates, such as micelles, where the hydrophobic tails form the core of the aggregate and the hydrophilic heads are in contact with the surrounding liquid.
• Other types of aggregates such as spherical or cylindrical micelles or bilayers can be formed. The shape of the aggregates depends on the chemical structure of the surfactants, depending on the balance of the sizes of the hydrophobic tail and hydrophilic tail.
• Surfactants play an important role as cleaning, wetting, dispersing, emulsifying, foaming and anti- foaming agents in many practical applications and products.
• The annual global production of surfactants was 13 million metric tons in 2008,, and the annual turnover reached US$24.33 billion in 2009, nearly 2% up from the previous year. The market is expected to experience quite healthy growth by 2.8% annually to 2012 and by 3.5 - 4% thereafter.
• The two major surfactants used in the year 2000 were linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS) and the alkyl phenol ethoxylates (APE). They break down in the aerobic conditions found in sewage treatment plants and in soil.
• Surfactants lower the surface tension of the medium in which it is dissolved. By lowering this interfacial tension between two media or interfaces (e.g. air/water, water/stain, stain/fabric) the surfactant plays a key role in the removal and suspension of dirt.
• The lower surface tension of the water makes it easier to lift dirt and grease off of dirty dishes, clothes and other surfaces, and help to keep them suspended in the dirty water.
• The water-loving or hydrophilic head remains in the water and it pulls the stains towards the water, away from the fabric.
• The surfactant molecules surround the stain particles, break them up and force them away from the surface of the fabric. They then suspend the stain particles in the wash water to remove them.
• The world production of soaps, detergents and other surfactants was about 18 Mt (million tons) in 1970, 25 Mt in 1990 and 40 Mt in 2000 (not counting polymeric surfactants).
• Approximately 25 % corresponds to the north american market and 25 % to the european market.The qualitative evolution of the market in the past 50 years is very significative. In effet, in 1940 the world production of surfactants (1.6 Mt) essentially consisted of soaps (fatty acid salts) manufactured acording to a very old fashioned technology.
• Surfactants can be roughly classified into the ionic surfactant, which ionizes and becomes ion (an atom or a herd of atoms having an electrical charge) when dissolved in water, and the nonionic surfactant, which does not ionize.
• The ionic surfactants can be further classified into the anionic surfactant, the cationic surfactant, and the dipolar surfactants by the type of ion when dissolved in water.
• Surfactants from natural origin (vegetable or animal) are known as oleo-chemicals and are derived from sources such as palm oil or tallow. Surfactants from synthetic origin are known as petro-chemicals and are derived from petroleum.
• The world market of surfactants reached US$23,9 billion in 2008, roughly 2.5% up from the previous year. When overall chemical industry experiences slowdown, the surfactant market value is expected to grow by 2.8% this year through 2010.
• For surfactant analysis, detection methods such as ultraviolet/visible (UV), refractive index (RI), charged aerosol detection (CAD®), evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD), mass spectrometry (MS), or suppressed conductivity can be used.

Synthesis

• Upregulation of surfactant synthesis triggers ABCA1-mediated basolateral phospholipid efflux
• Surfactant Synthesis and Kinetics in Infants with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
• Restoring Effects of Vitamin A on Surfactant Synthesis in Nitrofen-induced Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia in Rats
• Novel Biomimetic Surfactant:
  Synthesis and Micellar Characteristics
• Mucus and Surfactant Synthesis and
  Secretion by Cultured Hamster
  Respiratory Cells
• Industrial Surfactant Syntheses
• Defects in Surfactant Synthesis: Clinical Implications

Technology

• The Strategy of Surfactant Analysis by HPLC
• Screening Methods for Selection of Surfactant Formulations for IOR from Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs
• Adsorbent selection for anionic surfactant removal from water

Order the CD ROM Today

Primary Information Services
 21 Murugappan St, SwamyNagar Ext2, 
Ullagaram, Chennai - 600091, India.
 Phone: 91 44 22421080  Email : informer@eth.net, primaryinfo@gmail.com
Mobile numbers:9940043898, 9444008898  Fax : 91 44 22423753