Surfactant Is a Surface Active Agen (IMAGE)

Rice University

Surfactant Is a Surface Active Agen

Caption

A surfactant is a surface active agent. When added to a mixture of water and oil, surfactant molecules tend to accumulate in the interface area. The modified density gradient theory developed by Walter Chapman's group at Rice University models surfactant molecules by bonding a hydrophilic head group with a hydrophobic tail group. That helps characterize different water/surfactant and oil/surfactant interactions to better describe their interfacial behaviors.

Credit

Xiaoqun Mu/Rice University

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