Questions tagged [surfactants]
Questions about compounds that lower the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between two liquids or between a liquid and a solid.
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Functionalizing CTAC stabilized nanoparticles
I am working on functionalizing silver-gold bimetallic nanoparticles. My nanoparticles are stabilized by CTAC(cetyltrimethylammonium chloride).The most articles which I found, are about the ...
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How do I lower the surface tension of water without using a detergent?
For many years I've used a Rainbow vacuum, which uses a reservoir of water as the filter. While I'm quite pleased with it, I've found that when trying to vacuum cement dust or wood ash not all of ...
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Is it known for sure that bases feel slippery because of the production of soap/surfactant?
Discussion around the question Why does bleach feel slippery? has started me thinking about the saponification explanation for the slippery feeling of basic solutions.
According to Wikipedia:
...
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Figuring out if a surfactant is present
I have recently starting distilling my own essential oils using a still that I built out of an old diesel barrel. Before the first run with the still, I cleaned the inside using soap and water. I ...
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Can cationic species form micelles?
Most of the books dive into formation of micelles by soaps. They go on talking about alkyl sulphate and carboxylates, but never do they mention anything about cations. My textbook says that at ...
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Salt and sugar surfactants?
How do daily compounds such as table salt ($\ce{NaCl}$) and sugar ($\ce{C6H12O6}$) affect adhesion or surface tension of water? Considering their polarity, I guess they both increase it.
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Why does shower gel / shampoo foam a lot more on hairy than non-hairy body parts?
We usually use shower gel by rubbing it on our palms and then applying it to each body part in turn in order to clean oily substances that clung to it since our last shower. This procedure does not ...
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How does NaCl (or any inorganic salt) increase surface tension?
Does the compound "prefer" to stay in the solution?
If yes, wouldn't the surface tension of the solution be equal to that of pure water, since only water is in the surface?
See: Does NaCl reduce the ...
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What exactly happens while washing clothes
I am reading about soaps , micelles and all that. I understand how soap behaves in water contaminated by oil. Soap helps in emulsifying the oil into water.
Let us suppose now we have dirt(i.e oil, ...
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What is the surfactant's role in the non-coalescence of water droplets?
I have recently seen many videos that talk about the noncoalescence of water droplets; however, I do not understand the purpose of adding surfactants into the water. From my knowledge (high school), ...
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Benzalkonium chloride breakdown time
I wonder if and how long (approximately) it will take for benzalkonium chloride (shown above; $n = 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18$) to breakdown (degrade fully or partly) in a closed water loop with continuous ...
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How do I create a transparent liquid for ferrofluid display?
Hello~ I am a media art artists working in Korea.
Recently, create a kinetic artwork using ferrofluid.
I need to create an artificial pond with a diameter of 3 meters. So I need a lot of suspension ...
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What would be a safe/good surfactant for ultrasonic cleaning vinyl records + distilled water and isopropyl alcohol
Title pretty much says it all besides the type of records I believe are pvc (60s - current, someone correct me if there may be other materials but I absolutely don't have any shellac records) and I ...
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Why are critical micelle concentrations so large?
Dissolving a non-polar molecule in water incurs a free energy cost of about $10 kJ/(mol \cdot nm^2)$ (source: http://bionumbers.hms.harvard.edu/bionumber.aspx?&id=101826)
The entropy gained from ...
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How to disperse salicylic acid in sodium lauryl sulfate solution? [closed]
Anti-dandruff shampoo contains salicylic acid as an active ingredient, but when salicylic acid powder comes in contact with a base solution such as sodium laurylsulfate and water (1:3 wt/wt) caking of ...
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Do surfactants exist in a gas phase?
I am wondering if there are surfactants that exist in a gas state that can be used to reduce the surface tension of a liquid.
I know its a broad question, so for example, are there any gases that ...
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Understanding observations of dissolving surfactants in methanol, water and hexane combinations
I added various solvents to a shower gel product to see what would happen. The main surfactant ingredients in it are Methyl Gluceth 20, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and Lauryl Glucoside.
First I diluted ...
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Difference between starch surfactant and CTAB, SDS, Tx-100
I am doing a research on the effect of surfactant on ZnO nanoparticles properties. There is a confusion here between starch surfactant and CTAB, Tx-100 and SDS. I need point on what is the difference ...
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Why does shampoo lather much more the second time it is applied?
When I shampoo my dirty hair, the first time it does not lather very much. The second time it lathers a lot. Why is this?
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What is the purpose of froth in washing clothes?
I stay at a rented place and there is no washing machine. I, now, wash clothes in a bucket. When I add detergent, sometimes there is froth, sometimes there is not. I wonder if this had any impact on ...
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Why does soap reduce surface tension of water
One explanation I read is that soap's long non-polar end will seek the air at the interface between water and air, and that the ionic end will form ionic-dipole bonds with the water. In the process of ...
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Is there a type of detergent/surfactant that evaporates at STP?
Are there any type of detergent/surfactant chemicals that would be good for removing dirt and grease from fabric that also would evaporate from the clothes within, say, 24 hours leaving no residue?
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Lemon juice, the ultimate anti-foaming agent?
As an amateur soda maker, I have noticed an odd phenomenon: lemon juice sodas do not foam. Virtually every juice I have tried foams to some degree when mixed with carbonated water. Lemon juice does ...
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What can I use instead of AOT in the following protocol?
We want to nanoencapsulate our pesticide using the following protocol; but we don’t have AOT surfactant. So, what can I use instead of AOT in the following protocol?
Sodium alginate solution in ...
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What turns clear liquid soap blue? [closed]
Liquid soap that sits in metal pump handles turns blue after a week or so, as in this photo comparing the soap in its initial clear state and then after pumping from the dispenser.
The pumps are ...
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What non-poisonous chemicals can get rid of SLS effectively?
Whenever I brush teeth, there are some kind of bubbles sticking inside the cavity and that's uncomfortable, it should be SLS as found on the internet. Does anyone know how do I get rid of those ...
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Mixing borax and shampoo [closed]
I use borax to clean everything. the other day I thought it would be a good idea to mix a little borax with my shampoo while showering. After lathering it on my scalp about 30 seconds it began to ...
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ordering the hydrophilicity of some polymers
I need to compare the hydrophilicity of those materials to compare contact angles of water with those materials' surfaces for surface tension measurement. Materials are:
PTFE (Teflon), PVC, PS, PVDF, ...
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Microorganism preventative solution safe for using on a roof and will last in the sun
Information is scarce in the roof cleaning industry and the big guys are making a killing selling chemicals that are harmful to the person using it and everything around the home. I would like to find ...
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The sponge isn't foaming up, why?
When I add dish soap to a sponge it is able to foam up. But if I leave the sponge alone for an hour, it doesn't foam up, not even if it is wetted.
Why? The sponge should still contain dish soap an ...
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Why isn't washing up liquid dry
Washing up liquid is wet and it is added to water. Why does it not come in a half size package and you add the water yourself? In the same way washing powder is?
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Soap and rain water, why does it not rinse off?
I am in Papua New Guinea at the moment, where rain water harvesting is the most common way of getting water.
When washing hands, the soap feels hard to rinse off, and my skin feels "greasy".
I read ...
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What is the difference between the reactivity of Lead subacetate and Lead II acetate undergoing a hydrothermal process?
I am attempting to adapt a hydrothermal method for synthesizing $\ce{PbS}$ nanocrystals to my school that contains a mixture of cationic and anionic surfactants sodium dodecyl sulfate (.05 mmol, SDS) ...
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What are the differences between the various household surfactants?
In a typical household, the following surfactants are found, among others:
Soap / handwash
Shower gel
Shampoo
Dishwashing agent
Washing powder / liquid
From my understanding, the role of all these ...
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What is the difference between the roles of a surfactant and a stabilizer in the process of nanocrystal growth?
The crystals that I am synthesizing use two different stabilizers CTAB and SDS, but they say one is used as a surfactant and since they are both stabilizers what is the need for both?
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What are the main differences of CTAB and DTAB surfactants? And what are practical applications of them?
Just doing a little bit of research of both surfactants but I can't seem to find too much online about them. Hopefully you guys can help out!
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Does using stonger soaps help me lose weight?
Soaps are amphiphilic molecules that, practically, removes body oils from the surface of the skin. The body, on the other hand, always replenishes sebum through the sebaceous glands after a certain ...
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Dyes that can stain oil and water
Is there such a thing as a dye that can stain both oil and water? In other words, does anyone know of an amphiphilic dye? Maybe a surfactant that is also a pretty shade of blue? Or maybe turn one ...
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The entropy change during micellization
I was reviewing the thermodynamics of micelle formation from the Wikipedia page and this book. I understood most of the arguments but micellization is supposed to be an entropy driven process with a ...
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Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) Safety and Toxicity
I was wondering if anyone had any experience with PFBS or PFOS (perflurooctane sulfonic acid)?
I am thinking about trying to purchase some of these fluorosurfactants in bulk in order to (hopefully) ...
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Why does the reaction of chlorosulfonic acid (colorless) and 1-dodecanol (colorless) produces a deep dark-red-colored solution?
I was wondering if anyone had any insight as to why the reaction of chlorosulfonic acid (colorless) and 1-dodecanol (colorless) produces a deep dark-red-colored solution? The reaction should give ...
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Is there an efficient and effective way to clean oil from floor?
I've recently had several jerry-cans of oil (awaiting disposal) topple over in the attached garage, and several rooms following influx of water following heavy rain. After the water level receded the ...
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What is the substance in the new water cooler filter that give bubbles and taste a bit like soap
Recently the water cooler was replace with a new filter.
However, when I refill my water kettle with the water from the water cooler, there are many bubbles and the taste was a bit like soap.
What ...
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Removing wine stains from a decanter
I have a decanter which I use fairly often to pour out wines. I typically rinse it with hot water after the last wine has come out, but I cannot prevent it from forming 'residual' wine stains over ...
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Stripeless cleaning of windows
Last week I was discussing with a friend how we thought the stripeless cleaning of windows is achieved when using a cleaner like Windex Glass Cleaner as opposed to just using hot water, in which case ...
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What is the difference between hand wash and body wash soap?
I do not like body wash always with strong favor. I like hand wash soap to wash my body. Are they difference at all?
Thanks for the comments, so that I add the following information
I am really sorry ...
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Impact of detergent on internal living tissue?
There was some spirited debate between the members of my chemistry lab today about the theoretical consequences of ingesting a large amount of the detergent Triton X-100 at a 100% concentration. The ...
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What is the opposite of a surfactant?
Surfactants decrease surface tension between two fluids. What do you call a substance that increases the surface tension between two fluids? How is this effect acheived?
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How do surfactants spread in the case of multiple materials?
For example, consider a pot of water with a drop of oil floating on it, with surfactants present in the water.
Will the surfactants in the water spread evenly across all three interfaces (water/metal,...
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Do dishwashing detergent and stain remover powder/stick have the similar ability to remove collar rings?
For yellow rings on shirts caused by skin grease or sweat:
Some recommended to use an "Oxyclean" stain remover or stain remover stick
for cleaning.
Some recommended to use dishwashing detergent to ...
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