Surfactants and Wetting Agents

Surfactants reduce surface and interfacial tension enabling wetting, penetration, emulsification, dispersion, and detergency essential across all wet processing. Classification by charge includes anionic (60-70% of textile surfactants, alkyl sulfates and sulfonates, excellent detergency, pH 7-11, used in scouring and washing at 0.5-5 g/L), cationic (10-15% market, quaternary ammonium salts, substantive to fibers providing softening and antistatic properties at 0.3-2 g/L), nonionic (20-25% market, ethoxylated alcohols, compatible across pH 3-11, low foaming, used in scouring and dyeing at 0.5-3 g/L), and amphoteric (under 5% market, betaines, mild and compatible, used in sensitive applications). Applications span scouring, wetting, dispersing, emulsifying, and detergency with environmental concerns driving replacement of alkylphenol ethoxylates with alcohol ethoxylates and bio-based surfactants achieving biodegradability greater than 60% with comparable performance.