n (1927) A compound that causes a liquid to penetrate more easily into, or to spread over the surface of, another material, usually by reducing the liquid's surface tension. Common wetting agents are soaps, detergents, and surfactants. They are widely used in polymerization reactions and in preparing emulsions of plastics. (Solomon, D. H., and Hawthorne, D. G., Chemistry of Pigments and Fillers, Krieger Publishing Co., New York, 1991; Parfitt, G. D., Dispersion of Powders in Liquids, Elsevier Publishing Co., New York, 1969).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Gooch, J.W. (2011). Wetting Agents. In: Gooch, J.W. (eds) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Polymers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6247-8_12809
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6247-8_12809
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-6246-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-6247-8
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics