SURFACTANTS

PRESENTS BY
PRADEEPKUMAR YADAV
RAMNIRANJAN JHUNJHUNWALA
COLLEGE
MSC(II) (PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY)
SEM (III) ( 2013 14 )

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
C.M.C
MICELLAR SOLUBILIZATION
TYPES OF SURFACTANTS
PROPERTIES
APPLICATIONS
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SURFACTANTS
Molecules and ions that are absorbed at the interface is
termed as Surfactants
Surfactants have two distinct regions in their chemical
structure, one of which is water-liking or Hydrophilic
and the other of which is water-hating or
Hydrophobic.
These molecules are referred to as Amphiphilic or
Amphipathic molecules or simply as Surfactants or
Surface active agents.
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SURFACTANTS
The functional groups such as alcoholic (-OH),
carboxylic acid (-COOH), sulphate (-SO4) & quaternary
ammonium(NH4+) contribute to hydrophilic portion
Alkyl chains contribute to lipophilic nature of
molecules
The polar end oriented towards the water as well as the
non polar end projected upwards to space.
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CMC
When a surfactant is placed in water it forms micelles at
concentrations above its critical micelle concentration(CMC),
they form aggregates known as micelles.
In a micelle, the hydrophobic tails flock to the interior in
order to minimize their contact with water, and the hydrophilic
heads remain on the outer surface in order to maximize their
contact with water .

CMC
Critical micellar concentration is the concentration at which
the monomeric surfactant molecules associates into small
aggregates called micelles.
Diluting the surfactant solution to below the cmc causes the
micelles to disperse or break up into single or non associated
surfactant molecules.
Micelles are not static aggregates but dissociate, regroup and
reassociate rapidly.
There is a dynamic equilibrium between single surfactant
molecules and micelles.
The shape of micelles in dilute surfactant solutions
is approximately spherical.
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Micellar solubilization
Solubilization can be defined as the spontaneous dissolving of
a substance by reversible interaction with the micelles of a
surfactant in water to form a thermodynamically stable isotropic
solution with reduced thermodynamic activity
of the
solubilized material.
At surfactant concentrations above the cmc the solubility
increases linearly with the concentration of surfactant,
indicating that solubilization is related to micellization.
The lower is the CMC value and higher the aggregation
number , the more stable are the micelles.

Surfactants, Types
Anionic: Sodium dodecyl ( lauryl)sulfate ( SLS)
Cationic: Dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide(DTAB)
Nonionic: Tweens, Spans
Zwitterionic(Amphoteric): Lecithin(Phospholipids), Others
Nontraditional: Bile salts
Drugs: Dexverapamil-HCl, ibuprofen, and benzocaine.
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Anionic surfactants
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate BP
Mixture of sodium alkyl sulphates, the chief of which is
sodium dodecyl sulfate, C12 H25 SO4 Na+
It is very soluble in water at room temperature, and is used
pharmaceutically as a preoperative skin cleaner, having
Bacteriostatic action against gram-positive bacteria, and
also in medicated shampoos
Component of emulsifying wax.

Cationic surfactants

cationic surfactants are important pharmaceutically

because of their bactericidal activity against a wide range
of gram-positive and some gram-negative organisms.
They may be used on the skin, especially in the cleaning of
wounds.
Their aqueous solutions are used for cleaning
contaminated utensils.

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Non-ionic surfactants
These are not ionised in aqueous solution
Polyoxy ethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters
Sorbitan esters are supplied commercially as Spans and
are mixtures of the partial esters of sorbitol and its monoand di-anhydrides with oleic acid.
They are generally insoluble in water (low hydrophile
lipophile balance (HLB) value) are used as water-in-oil
emulsifiers and as wetting agents.

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Non-ionic surfactants
Polysorbates are complex mixtures of partial esters of sorbitol
and its mono and di-anhydrides condensed with an
approximate number of moles of ethyleneoxide.
They are supplied commercially as Tweens. The polysorbates
are miscible with water, as reflected in their higher HLB
values, and are used as emulsifying agents for oil-in-water
emulsions.

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PROPERTIES
- Wetting
- Emulsification
- Dispersion / Solubilization
- Foaming / De-foaming
- Detergency
- Conditioning
- Thickening
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WETTING
Paraffin or new cotton
cloth barely wetted by
water, but when surfactant
is added to water their
surface easily becomes wet
Surfactant in floor cleaner
as a wetting agent

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EMULSIFICATION

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EMULSIFICATION

Examples of Emulsions

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FOAMING EFFECT
Foam consist of gas covered with thin liquid film.
Surfactant molecule absorbed to interface between
gas and liquid

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DETERGENCY

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APPLICATIONS
PHARMACEUTICAL ADJUVANTS
They are added to the drugs in order to increase the product
characteristics in the design of dosage forms in a variety of ways like
solublising agents, wetting agents ,detergents, suspending ,foaming,
emulsifying agents
INFLUENCES THE DRUG ACTION
These are at low conc. Enhances the penetration of hexylresorcinol
into pinworm ,ascaris.

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY
These are alter the integrity and lost the essential elements by leak
Mainly cationic surfactants show activity
But non ionic surfacants help in metabolism of organisms & facilitate their
growth
Natural surfactants enhances the absorption of antibiotics
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APPLICATIONS
FOAMING AGENTS:
They can be used in shampoos & lathering shaving cream so it can
produce stable foam when mixed with air pockets enclosed with thin film
of liquid.
ANTI FOAMING AGENTS
They can be used in fermentation process to prevents the foams in
production .eg., octnol, ether, castor oil & silicones

SOME ARE DRUGS

Phenothiazine & procaine-tranquilizer, local anesthetic
Acridines-antibacterial
Streptomycin-antibiotic
Veratrum alkaloids-anti cancer
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REFERENCE
M. J. Rosen. Surfactants and
Interfacial Phenomena (3rd
edn.), John Wiley
(2004)
R. Zana (ed.). Dynamics of
Surfactant Self-Assemblies, CRC
Press (2005)
3. M. Abe & J. F. Scamehorn.
Mixed Surfactant Systems, CRC
Press (2004).
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