SURFACTANT

 Surfactants: are termed as surface-active agents also

wetting agents, emulsifying agents or suspending agents
depending on its properties and use.
 Surface-active agents are substances which, at low
concentrations, adsorb onto the surfaces or interfaces of a
system and alter the surface or interfacial free energy and
the surface or interfacial tension.
 Surfactants are monomers, it has a characteristic structure
possessing both hydrophobic groups / non-polar regions
(their "tails") usually contain a C12– C18 hydrocarbon chain
and hydrophilic groups / Polar Regions(their "heads").
 Therefore, they are soluble in both organic solvents and
water, so they called amphiphilic.
 SURFACTANT
 The polar "head" has affinity for water and the "tail" has affinity for oil.
 MICELLE
 A micelle consists of a core and a shell, where hydrophobic end
groups form the core and hydrophilic head groups form the outer
shell.
 Amphiphilicmicelles are formed through self-assembly of
monomers with hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments in solution
 Critical micelle concentration (CMC) is defined as
the concentration of surfactants above which micelles form
and all additional surfactants added to the system will
form micelles.

 The CMC is an important characteristic of a surfactant.

 As surfactants are added water, the surface tension will

decrease. However, at some point, the surface becomes
saturated with surfactant molecules, and micelles start to
form. This point is defined as critical micelle concentration.
 A nonionic surfactant
Surfactant can be do not have any
classified based on charge groups over its
charge groups present in head. The head of an
their head. ionic surfactant
carries a net charge.

If the charge is negative,

the surfactant is more If a surfactant contains
specifically called anionic a head with two
oppositely charged
and if the charge is
groups, it is termed
positive, it is called zwitterion.
cationic.
 ANIONIC SURFACTANTS:
 In solution, the head is negatively charged.

 These surfactants are the most widely used type of surfactant for preparing shampoos because
of its excellent cleaning properties and high hair conditioning effects.

 The most used anionic surfactants are alkyl sulphates, alkyl ethoxylate sulphates and soaps.

 Most of the anionic surfactants are carboxylate ,sulfate and sulfonate ions .

 The straight chain is a saturated /unsaturated C12-C18 aliphatic group.

 In solution, the head of the cationic surfactant is positively charged.

 Cationic surfactants are quaternary ammonium compounds, and they are mostly used for
their disinfectant and preservative properties as they have good bactericidal properties.

 They are used on skin for cleansing wounds or burns.

 cationic surfactants are benzalkonium chloride, cetylpyridinium chloride etc.

 NON-IONIC SURFACTANTS
 Those surfactants do not have any electrical charge, which
makes them resistant to water hardness deactivation.
 They are less irritant than other anionic or cationic
surfactants.
 They are excellent grease/oil removers and emulsifiers.
 The non ionic surfactant can be classified as • Polyol esters
, • polyoxyethylene esters , • poloxamers .
 The Polyol esters includes glycol and glycerol esters and
sorbitan derivatives.
 Polyoxyethylene esters includes polyethylene glycol (PEG
40,PEG -50 ,PEG- 55).
 The most commonly used non-ionic surfactants are ethers
of fatty Alcohols.
 AMPHOTERIC/ZWITTERIONIC SURFACTANTS:

 These surfactants are very mild, making them

particularly suited for use in personal care preparations
over sensitive skins.
 They can be anionic (negatively charged), cationic
(positively charged) or non-ionic (no charge) in solution,
depending on the acidity or pH of the water.
 Those surfactants may contain two charged groups of
different sign. Whereas the positive charge is almost
always ammonium but the source of the negative
charge may vary (carboxylate, sulphate, sulphonate).
 These surfactants have excellent dermatological
properties. They are frequently used in shampoos and
other cosmetic products, and also in hand dishwashing
liquids because of their high foaming properties.
HYDROPHILIC – LIPOPHILIC BALANCE (HLB)
 Lower HLB values are an indication of high oil affinity.
 A high HLB value, on the other hand, indicates high water-
solubility
 the type of emulsion formed (o/w or w/o) is mainly
determined by the surfactant present.
 Surfactants with an HLB value between 3–6 (i.e., glycerol
esters, propylene glycol fatty acid esters, polyglycerol
esters, and sorbitol fatty acid esters) promote formation of
w/o emulsions.
 Hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) is the
 Surfactants with HLB values between 8–16 tend to form
balance of the size and strength of the
o/w emulsions.
hydrophilic and lipophilic moieties of a
surfactant molecule.  Surfactants between 8–16 include:
proteins, phospholipids, potassium and sodium salts,
 The HLB scale ranges from 0 to 20.
and alginates
 APPLICATIONS OF
SURFACTANT
 Medicinal Applications
 As antimicrobial (Quaternary ammonium
compounds have useful antibacterial properties,
disinfectant for skin and instruments. Also, as
antibacterial agents in creams and throat lozenges.
They act as by adsorbing at the bacterial cell surface.
This changes the permeability of the cell membrane
and results in loss of essential substances from the
cell resulting in its death.
 As expectorants ( in acute and chronic infections of
the upper respiratory tract, bronchitis, asthma, TB,
etc. The viscosity of bronchial mucus increases.
Mucus dries out and causes loosens the mucus and
provides its easy removal and relief.
 As cleansing agents ( since surfactant have
detergents properties, these are also employed as
cleansing agents. However repeated use should be
avoided since this may cause irritation of the skin.
 PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS
 As solubilizing agents (for poorly
soluble drugs such as oil soluble
vitamins (vit A easy to take in O/W
emulsion rather than as fish liver oil,
unpalatable in oil form), volatile oils,
hormones, antibacterial, disinfectant
cresol & chloroxylenol etc.) oils are
more stable and resistant to
oxidation in solubilized form.
 As wetting agents ( hydrophobic
powder tend to aggregate &
agglomerate when added to water.
They are difficult to disperse as they
tend to float. Here comes the
surfactant for help.
 As flocculated agents (surfactant are used for
controlled flocculation.
 Although these flocculated formulation tend to
settle on standing but they don’t form hard cake
and can easily be re-dispersed on shaking.
 while in case of deflocculated formulation , once
particles are settled down, they may form hard
cake which is difficult to re-disperse even on
strong shaking)
 As emulsifying agent ( many synthetic and naturally occurring surface active agents are
widely use as emulsifying agents.
 They reduce interfacial tension between oil-water phases examples include
 Tweens
 Spans
 Cetomacrogols
 Acacia
 tragacanth