ABSTRACT
Applications of silicone surfactants to obtain colloid stabilization have gained little interest. Silicone emulsifiers are polymeric or oligomeric surfactants that possess more than one hydrophilic and more than one hydrophobic functional group. In contrast to low molecular weight surfactants, these multifunctional emulsifiers attach to the interface with several segments. The success of silicone emulsifiers is certainly related to their special silicone character, which differs in many respects from that of organic low molecular weight and other polymeric emulsifiers. Silicone-based emulsifiers are oligomeric or polymeric mostly linear silicone molecules that are modified by means of organic residues to add to the hydrophobic and oleophobic silicone substituents. Although by far the most applications of silicone surfactant emulsifiers are in the cosmetic field, there are some interesting technical applications. Since the emulsification problem is not very fastidious, the nature of the silicone-based emulsifier is not critical. Similar to water-in-silicone-oil emulsions, solely polyoxyalkylene-substituted polydimethylsiloxanes are effective as emulsifiers.
