Advantages of Surfactant Chemicals

Advantages of Surfactant Chemicals

Whether it is washing your face, washing dishes, washing your clothes or even removing hydrogen from water or oil, the role of surfactants is becoming extremely crucial and vital. They are an integral part of dozens of industries that cater to both industrial and domestic usage. Surfactants are commonly used compounds that are indispensable in a wide variety of cleaning products. This is because they have a special ability to decrease and lower the surface tension of water. This, in turn, makes molecules slipperier. This might result in their ability to stick to themselves. Further, they are also more likely to interact with grease and oil. Apart from detergents and soaps, surfactants are also very commonly used in inks, lubricants, anti-fogging liquids, adhesives, herbicides, fabric softeners, and emulsifiers. We also should be aware that our human body also produces surfactants. These are known as pulmonary surfactants chemicals. They are produced by the lungs and at the cellular level. They help aid the breathing process and they play a big role in keeping the airways open.

Various Uses And Benefits

When surfactants are added to various cleaning agents like detergents, they allow the detergents to get easily mixed into water. They also play a big role in helping cleaning agents remove embedded dirt from the various surfaces that are being cleaned. In the absence of surfactants, soaps would not be able to mix well with water. Instead, they would just roll away from water. This will make the cleaning process quite difficult. They are also used in lubricants including shaving cream. They help in easily getting rid of stubble and also reduce irritation to the skin quite a bit. Surfactants are also added to lubricants that are used in car engines. They help in preventing particles from sticking to the various engine parts. The parts can move easily and help the car to remain in the right running condition.

Industrial Uses Of Surfactants

 Apart from being used in products that are used for domestic consumption, surfactants are also very commonly used in many industries. We will look at a few of them for the benefit of our readers. For example, they are used regularly in crude oil production. When crude oil is extracted, the crude gets diluted and it leads to the formation of emulsions and water. Surfactants work as emulsion breakers and help in efficient and rapid separation and also helps to separate water from oil.

 Mining Industry

 Surfactants are extremely useful in mining. They come in very handy whenever there is a need to remove ores from rock and also coal. They are also extremely useful in binding coal dust and also for other such purposes.

 Plastics and Paper Industries

 Production of everyday plastics would have been impossible without surfactants. They also play a big role in the production of plastic foams. They help in stabilizing plastics. They are also important in the paper and pulp industry because they help in increasing the softness and absorbency of paper.

 Textile Industries

 Further, surfactants are also very critical in the textile industries. They act as cleaning agents and surfactant detergents. They are in particular useful in wool and silk production.

Hence there is no doubt that surfactants are extremely important and have wide applications across many industries.