Main components of surfactants

Surfactants are a type of substance with a special chemical structure, which has two parts in molecular structure: hydrophilic and hydrophobic. According to search results, the main components of surfactants can be divided into the following categories:
Organic acid salts: The organic part of these surfactants can be affinity with non-polar organic compounds, while the acid group is affinity with polar substances such as water, thereby forming a relatively uniform dispersion system of originally insoluble substances

Cationic surfactant: A positively charged surfactant with a pentavalent nitrogen atom as the main component of its molecular structure. It is a quaternary ammonium compound, such as benzalkonium chloride (Jie Er Mie), benzalkonium bromide (Xin Jie Er Mie), benzalkonium chloride, etc

Amphoteric surfactants: Molecular structures with both positive and negative charge groups can exhibit the properties of cationic or anionic surfactants in media with different pH values. Including lecithin, amino acid type, and betaine type, etc

Non ionic surfactants: These types of surfactants do not have a charge, such as fatty acid glycerides, sucrose fatty acid esters, fatty acid sorbitan, polysorbate, polyoxyethylene fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene fatty alcohol ethers, polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene polymers, etc

Other types: Surfactants can be further classified based on their chemical structure, including anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, and zwitterionic surfactants

Surfactants are widely used in daily life and industrial production, with functions such as reducing liquid surface tension, promoting dispersion and emulsification, and cleaning dirt
. Understanding the composition of surfactants is of great significance for optimizing product formulations, conducting safety assessments and environmental protection, improving product quality and innovation capabilities.