The Function of the Surfactant

Etymology

• The term "surfactant" is a blend of the words "surface," "active," and "agent." This is because surfactants that are introduced into a body of water typically migrate directly to the water's surface, where they stick their tails out of the water and into the air or another non-water substance. This is because their heads and tails function in such a way that their heads are water-soluble and their tails are not.

Effects

• Because the heads of surfactants favor water, and their tails favor oil, they are typically used to weaken the surface tension between the two. With a tendency to gather together into large groups called "aggregates," the surfactants' tails can penetrate a droplet of oil while their heads face outward towards the surrounding water. Eventually, the configuration causes the two to blend -- when they would not naturally do so.

Uses

• With their ability to make oil soluble in water, surfactants play a very important role in various types of household and industrial products; particularly those that are used to clean, wet, emulsify, and create foam. This includes laundry detergents, fabric softeners, paints, adhesives, laxatives, shampoos, hair conditioners, spermicides, firefighting equipment, and oil pipelines. Without the intervention of surfactants, many of the oils on our surfaces, clothes, and bodies would be resistant to the water that we use to clean them, and remain in place.

Biological Effects

• Because of the nature of their composition -- surfactants are typically toxic to animals, humans, and entire ecosystems -- because they make it easier for certain contaminants to enter into water, and by extension, an organism's bloodstream. However, surfactants are also used, with some degree of success, as wetting agents for soil that is particularly resistant to penetration by water. Surfactants are also sometimes to prepare vital organs for transplants, as mammals' bodies naturally secrete a type of surfactant that can be artificially re-created to preserve the organs.