Surfactant

From Health Encyclopedia

Contents 1 Used for 2 Broader Terms 3 Related Terms 4 Scope Note 5 Facts (generated by robot; please edit if you find it inaccurate)

Used for

antifoaming agent, foaming agent, foaming retardant

Broader Terms

drug /agent

Related Terms

detergent

Scope Note

surface active agent.

Facts (generated by robot; please edit if you find it inaccurate)

• Contents 1 Origin of term 2 Operation and effects 3 Applications 4 Classification Origin of term The term surfactant is a contraction of "Surface active agent".
• A surfactant is briefly defined as a material that can greatly reduce the surface tension of water when used in very low concentrations.
• Micrographs show that pulmonary surfactant is primarily a monolayer in the alveolus, separating the minimal water phase from the air and lying almost adjacent to the surface of cells.
• A droplet of oil (need to know its size) when stabilized with a surfactant is surrounded by dozens to hundreds of surfactant molecules.
• Unexpectedly,the size of the surface features increase drastically to about 10 m if theBi surfactant is used (figure 2; TBi = 350 oC andTMg = 280 oC).

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