What is a surfactant?

Surfactant molecules are generally composed of two parts, one is a hydrophilic head group, and the other is a hydrophobic tail chain; Therefore, surfactant molecules have unique properties that are both hydrophilic and lipophilic. The definition of surfactants refers to substances that can cause significant changes in the interface state of their solution system by adding a small amount. As a popular example, when washing dishes, if detergent is not added, oil and water are insoluble, and water cannot wash away the oil. After detergent is added, the oil is surrounded by foam, and can be washed away with water. What plays a role here is the surfactant in detergent.
Surfactants can be divided into ionic and non ionic surfactants based on the type of hydrophilic group. The head group of ionic surfactants can be dissociated in water, and can be divided into cationic, anionic, and zwitterionic surfactants based on the type of hydrophilic ion; Non ionic surfactants do not dissociate in aqueous solutions. According to the different raw materials used, surfactants can be divided into petroleum based surfactants and natural oil based surfactants; According to the different fields of use, it can be divided into industrial surfactants and daily surfactants.