Green surfactant technology and products have advanced rapidly, with some achieving internationally leading standards. The production of novel green surfactants using renewable resources such as oils and starches has become a major focus in recent research, development, and industrialization efforts. The diversification of surfactant varieties and derivatives meets the demands of various industries.
While the development of functional small-scale surfactant varieties has progressed quickly, there remains a significant gap in both variety and quantity compared to developed nations. Functionalization is another key direction for surfactant development, supported by national policy guidance and widely recognized by the industry. Domestic research institutions, universities, and companies have made substantial efforts in this field, yielding promising results.
In aqueous solutions, surfactants not only alter solution activity (i.e., reduce surface tension) but also significantly affect washing-related properties such as penetration, adsorption, wetting, dispersion, emulsification, solubilization, and foaming—especially near the critical micelle concentration (CMC).
The surfactants used in synthetic detergents are not pure single compounds but often contain varying amounts of adjacent homologs. Moreover, surfactants typically account for less than one-third of a detergent’s total weight, with the remainder consisting of various additives and auxiliary agents that serve different functions. Thus, the washing process of multi-component synthetic detergents involves a complex, synergistic mechanism.
The primary component of synthetic detergents is amphiphilic molecules, which possess both hydrophobic (oil-loving) and hydrophilic (water-loving) groups. These molecules adsorb at interfaces, forming monolayers that reduce surface tension—a property known as surface (or interfacial) activity. Substances exhibiting this property are termed surface-active agents (surfactants).
When washing oil-stained fabrics with water alone, the immiscibility of oil and water makes stain removal difficult. Adding soap or synthetic detergents modifies the interfacial tension among oil, water, fabric, and air, triggering processes such as penetration, adsorption, wetting, dispersion, emulsification, solubilization, and foaming. Combined with mechanical action (scrubbing or machine agitation), this enables efficient oil stain removal.
Post time: Dec-24-2025