University of Science and Technology of Hanoi

Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences

CHEMISTRY OF SURFACTANTS
FORMULATION OF HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS
Dr. Nguyen Duc Anh
Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences (FAS)

nguyen-duc.anh@usth.edu.vn
0904888819

September 2019
Something about me Concerned issue Objectives Methods Results and discussion Conclusion and perspectives

Something about me

Name: NGUYEN Duc Anh - PhD

Email: nguyen-duc.anh@usth.edu.vn
Mobile: 0904888819
Position: Lecturer and researcher
At USTH since: 2017/7
Department: Advanced Materials Science and Nanotechnology (until 7/2018)
Fundamental and Applied Sciences (since 8/2018)
Laboratory: NENS (NanoEngineering and NanoScience)
Teaching Subjects: Polymer Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; General Chemistry
Something about me Concerned issue Objectives Methods Results and discussion Conclusion and perspectives

Contents
Something about me Concerned issue Objectives Methods Results and discussion Conclusion and perspectives

I. Characteristic Features of Surfactants

•I.1. Surfactants?
•I.2. History and applications
•I.3. Market overview
•I.4. Molecular structure of surfactants
Something about me Concerned issue Objectives Methods Results and discussion Conclusion and perspectives

I.1. Surfactants?
 Surface active agents
 Lowers surface tension of water
 Any material that makes a surface contribution to the free energy of
the surface phase of two component system.
 Surfactants is a Amphiphilic compound that
 Is soluble in at least one phase of system
 Forms oriented monolayers at phase interface
 Exhibits equilibrium concentrations at phase interfaces higher than those in
the bulk solution & forms micelles at specific concentration.
 Exhibits characters- detergency, foaming, wetting, emulsifying, solubilizing
& dispersing
 Tail or hydrophobic group this group is usually hydrocarbon (alkyl)
chain
 Head or hydrophilic group can be neutral or charged
A surfactant (a contraction of the term surface-active agent) is a
substance that, when present at low concentration in a system,
has the property of adsorbing onto the surfaces or interfaces of
the system and of altering to a marked degree the surface or
interfacial free energies of those surfaces (or interfaces). The
term interface indicates a boundary between any two
immiscible phases; the term surface denotes an interface
where one phase is a gas, usually air.

The interfacial free energy is the minimum amount of work

required to create that interface. The interfacial free energy per
unit area is what we measure when we determine the
interfacial tension between two phases. It is the minimum
amount of work required to create unit area of the interface or
to expand it by unit area. The interfacial (or surface) tension is
also a measure of the difference in nature of the two phases
meeting at the interface (or surface). The greater the
dissimilarity in their natures, the greater the interfacial (or
When we measure the surface tension of a liquid, we are
measuring the interfacial free energy per unit area of the
boundary between the liquid and the air above it. When we
expand an interface, therefore, the minimum work required to
create the additional amount of that interface is the product of
the interfacial tension γI and the increase in area of the
interface; Wmin = γI × Δinterfacial area. A surfactant is
therefore a substance that at low concentrations adsorbs at
some or all of the interfaces in the system and significantly
changes the amount of work required to expand those
interfaces.
Surfactants usually act to reduce interfacial free energy rather
than to increase it, although there are occasions when they are
used to increase it
Conditions under which Interfacial Phenomena and Surfactants Become Significant
•  General Structural Features and Behavior of Surfactants
Surfactants classification
 General Use of Charge Types
The Nature of the Hydrophobic Group
 General Effects of the Nature of the Hydrophobic Group
 Environmental Effects of Surfactants
• Surface tension
• Lowering surface tension
• Surfactants (surface active agents) are organic compounds with at least one
lyophilic (solvent – loving) group and one lyophobic (solvent-fearing) group in the
molecule.

• In t h e s i m p l e s t ter m s , a su r f a c t a n t
contains at least one non-polar g roup and one polar (or ionic) g roup
• Two phenomena result from these opposing forces within the same
molecule: adsorption and aggregation
• Adsorption of surfactants
Aggregation of surfactants – Micellization
• Critical micellar concentration – CMC (để bài micellization)
• Type of micelles according to concentration
• HLB – HLD values of surfactants
• Classification of surfactants
• Ionic (anionic and cationic) and neutral surfactants
• Properties and other criteria
Wetting
Foaming/defoaming
Emulsification/demulsification (both macro- and micro-emulsions)
Dispersion/aggregation of solids
Solubility and solubilisation (hydrotropic properties)
Adsorption
Micellisation
Detergency (which is a complex combination of several of these properties)
Synergistic interactions with other surfactants

Corrosion inhibition
Substantivity to fibres and surfaces
Bi ocidal proper ties
Lubr icit y
Stabilit y i n hig hly acidic or alkaline media
Viscosit y modification
• Applications of surfactants
• Novel applications in chemical synthesis
• Surfactants markets
• Lec=)) 2