2. Surfactant properties

In order to define some criteria for choosing surfactants for a given application, it is necessary to recall some basic concepts concerning the properties of surfactant compounds.

The two essential properties of surfactant compounds that help us understand the phenomena observed and determine their fields of application are :

• adsorption at interfaces, which reduces interfacial tensions. This property is responsible for wetting, dispersion, detergency and emulsification;

• self-aggregation in solution or micellisation, which governs solubilization and microemulsification properties.