Introduction to Surfactants

Why does surfactant work ?

Water : Oil :

Hydrophobic Lipophilic

Hydrophilic Lipophobic

What does surfactant do ?

Water & Oil are mortal enemies

Surface Tension Force between two liquids

Surfactants acts as clamp binding Water & Oil are together

How does surfactant work?

Surfactant
Definition
Surface Active Agent
Substance which reduces surface/interfacial tension between two phases Compounds having tendency to gather around the interface between two different materials by altering the properties of interface remarkably Serves as good mediator to settle dispute between two phases which are not friends

What is Surface Tension?

The Influence of Surfactants on Surface Tension

Important Property
Small Micelle

Micelle

Extremely Dil. Soln

Dil. Soln

Soln at CMC

Soln above CMC

Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC)

Minimum concentration at which surfactants molecules begin to form micelles

Surfactant Behavior

Structures of Micelles

CMC and Micelles

Importance
Micelles make insoluble material soluble in water. The structure of the micelles can affect the viscosity of the solution.

Micelles are reservoirs of surfactants.

If not above CMC, the cleaning solution gets depleted of surfactants and cleaning power is lost!!

Important Properties of Surfactants

Wetting and penetrating effects

Emulsifying
Dispersing / Solubilizing effects Foaming / De-foaming effects Detergency Conditioning Substantivity Thickening

Wetting effect
Paraffin or new cotton cloth barely wetted by water But When surfactant is added to water their surface easily becomes wet

Surfactant in floor cleaner as a wetting agent

Wetting

Emulsions

Emulsification

Examples of Emulsions

Foaming effect
Foam consist of gas covered with thin liquid film. Surfactant molecule absorbed to interface between gas and liquid

Cleaning/Detergency
How does cleaning take place ?
Real Soil Composition

Required Effects when Cleaning

How Surfactants Work

Types of Surfactants

Ionic Surfactants
Anionic Surfactants
Carboxylates
Soaps

LABS

Alkyl benzene Sulphonates

FAS

Ionic Surfactants
Anionic Surfactants
Sulfosuccinate Diester

Sulfosuccinate

Monoester

Ionic Surfactants: Uses

Anionic Surfactants
Cleansing Formulation Shampoo Hand wash Bath gels Tooth Paste Soaps & Detergents

Cationic Surfactants(1)

Cationic Surfactants(2)

Important Property
Substantivity

Cationic Surfactants

Ionic Surfactants
Amphoteric Surfactants
Cocobetaine (CB)
CH3 N+ CH2COO-

CH3
Cocoamidopropylbetaine ( CAPB) CH3 CONH(CH2)3 N+ CH3 CH2COO-

Uses :

Amphoteric Surfactants

Betaines are used in personal care products e.g. hair shampoos, liquid soaps, and cleansing lotions. All-purpose cleaning agents, hand dishwashing agents, and special textile detergents..

Nonionic Surfactants

Nonionic Surfactants

Water Solubility of Nonionics

Reason

Cloud Point

Effect of moles of EO on Cloud Points of Nonionic

Influence of Cloud Point on

Soil Removal

HLB Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance

HLB is a means of expressing the hydrophilic property of surfactants in figures

HLB Value
Significance
HLB Value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Water in oil emulsifier

Oil in water Emulsifiers

Use Wetting Agents Detergents

Solubilizer

HLB According to Griffin

(only for PEG types)

substantive to skin and hair

HLB According to Griffin

(only for polyhydric alcohol types)

HLB = 20 ( 1 SV / AV )
Where S V = Sap value of ester of polyhydric alcohol AV = Acid value of fatty acid used

Calculation of HLB value of PEG-7-glyceryl-cocoate

AV of cocofatty acid = 265 mg KOH/g SV of PEG-7-glyceryl-cocoate = 95

HLB = 20 ( 1 95 / 265 ) = 12.8

HLB According to Davis

HLB = 7 + m * Hh + n * Hl
where
m - number of hydrophilic groups in the molecule Hh - Value of the hydrophilic groups n - Number of lipophilic groups in the molecule Hl - Value of the lipophilic groups

Ex : Calculation of HLB of SLES Formula of SLES : CH3(CH2)11O (CH2CH2O)2SO3Na HLB = 7 + (1 x 1.3 + 2 x 0.33 + 38.7)+(12 x - 0.475) = 42

Nonionic Surfactants
Properties

Nonionic Surfactants
Applications
Cleansing agent in detergents Emulsifying agents household & I & I formulations Wetting agents in textile processing, agrochemical formulations

Thank you