ABSTRACT
The term surfactant is shorthand for the more cumbersome “surface active agent.” Surfactants as a group have the ability to modify the interface between various phases. Their effects on the interface are the result of their ability to orient themselves in accordance with the polarities of the two opposing phases. Thus the polar (hydrophilic) part of the surfactant molecule can be expected to be oriented toward the more polar (hydrophilic) phase at a given interfacial contact site. Similarly, the nonpolar (lipophilic) portion of the surfactant molecule should contact the nonpolar (lipophilic) phase. Each surfactant molecule has a tendency to reach across (bridge) the two phases, and such substances have, therefore, also been called amphiphilic.
