ABSTRACT
The hydrophobic portion concentrates at the surface with a strong attraction to the surrounding solution, while the hydrophilic portion is oriented towards the solution with weak to the non-attraction forces. Surfactants are surface-active agents with broad range properties including the lowering of surface and interfacial tensions (IFTs) of liquids. The unique surface-active properties of surfactants have been exploited in various areas such as detergency, emulsification, adhesion, coatings, wetting, foaming, soil, and water remediation, paints, chromatographic separations, medicine, agriculture, cosmetics, personal care and almost every sector of modern industry. Surfactants are classified with varying chemical structures according to their ionic charge residing in the polar part of the molecule. Surfactants enhance the aqueous solubility of non-aqueous phase liquids by reducing their surface/IFT at air-water and water-oil interfaces. The most attractive aspects of Biosurfactant use are their biodegradability and an ecological acceptance.
