Surfactants are characterized by their ability to reduce the surface tension of aqueous fluids; this enables them to act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers. James (1965) has defined them as molecules with two different structural elements, one being a hydrophobic hydrocarbon (water-repellent) group, and the other a hydrophilic polar (water attracting) group. Depending on the charge of the hydrophilic structural element surface active agents are classified as anionic, cationic, amphoteric and non-ionic compounds.
Anionic surfactants exhibit some bactericidal effect only in acid media (pH 2–3), that means in their undissociated state. They present themselves as alkali or amine salts of long-chain fatty acids or alkane sulphonates (e.g. R-COO−Na+, R-SO3 −Na+; R = C10−C12alkyl); in aqueous solution they dissociate to a large anion, responsible for the strong detergent properties and a small cation. The antimicrobial effect of anionic surfactants is restricted mainly to...
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© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Paulus, W. (2004). Surface active agents. In: Paulus, W. (eds) Directory of Microbicides for the Protection of Materials. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2818-0_41
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2818-0_41
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