Introduction

to
Surfactants
Why does surfactant work ?

Water : Hydrophobic Hydrophilic

Oil : Lipophilic Lipophobic
 What does surfactant do ?

Water & Oil

Surface
are mortal
Tension –
enemies
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 Soln at Soln

Dil. Soln CMC 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

Alkyl benzene Sulphonates

LABS

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+ CH2COO-

CH3
 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
Oil in water Emulsifiers
emulsifier

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