Skip to main content

What is a Wetting Agent

 A wetting agent is a substance that reduces the surface tension of water, it spreads water on the surface and increases the ability of liquid dispersion. Reducing the surface tension will reduce the energy required to distribute the droplets onto the film, thereby weakening the cohesion of the liquid and enhancing its adhesion. An example of how wetting agents work is the formation of micelles. The micelle consists of a hydrophilic head, which forms an outer layer around the lipophilic tail. When it is in water, the tail of the micelle can surround the oil drop and draw its head into the water.

 

Dishwashing soap is a good example of a wetting agent. For all food oils and the cohesion on the board, it is difficult for water to disperse and clean the board. Soap dissolves all these unwanted particles, showing us a clean surface. Soap can also reduce the surface tension of water and make it evenly distributed on the whole surface.

 

There are four types of wetting agents: anionic wetting agent, cationic wetting agent, amphoteric and non-ionic wetting agent.

 

1. When mixed with water, anionic, cationic and amphoteric wetting agents will ionize.

 

2. Anionic wetting agent has negative charge, while cationic wetting agent has positive charge.

 

3. According to the acidity of the solution, amphoteric wetting agents can act as anions or cations.

 

4. Nonionic wetting agents will not ionize in water. The possible advantage of using a non-ionic wetting agent is that it does not react with other ions in the water, which may lead to the formation of precipitates.

 

How to identify if a liquid contains a wetting agent

 

One way to identify if a liquid contains a wetting agent is to spread the liquid over a greased surface. If the liquid does not contain a wetting agent, its cohesion will overwhelm the adhesion, resulting in the formation of droplets on the surface. If the liquid does contain a wetting agent, the grease will be dissolved and the surface tension of the liquid will be reduced, resulting in the adhesion force exceeding the cohesion force, which will cause the liquid to spread evenly along the surface.

 

Nanjing Chemical Material Corporation. (NCMC), is a professional chemical distributor company. We provide 3 aminopropyltriethoxysilane solubility, amphoteric detergents, amphoteric surfactant, monoammonium glycyrrhizinate and etc. Want to know more? Please contact us.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Difference Between Sodium Laureth Sulfate And Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

Sodium laureth ether sulfate  (SLS) and sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) are surfactants that play a role in foaming products. It is widely believed that the foam produced by a product is its performance. The composition of SLS and SLES reduces the surface tension of water. They can also be used as dispersants to properly mix spices and body spray. SLS and SLES can also be used in a variety of personal care products such as soap, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste and other foaming products. SLS and SLES are also added to moisturizing lotions and sunscreens because of these properties. The difference between SLS and SLES is in the manufacturing process. SLS undergo a process called ethoxylation. And then you get SLES. Why do we have this ethoxylation process? Because SLS has some mild irritation on the skin, such as dry. The manufactured SLES are more gentle and do not irritate the skin. Many manufacturers do not use SLS because it is irritating. SLES should be softer o...

Difference Between Sulfate And Sulfonate In Shampoo

  Sulfates and sulfonates have two things in common. First, they're all anionic surfactants. Second, they are often used for personal care applications. But there are many differences. They have different molecular mechanisms. They have different functions and they have different raw materials.   Sulfates Sulfate is a compound. It has carbon bonds and oxygen and sulfur bonds. They include substances such as sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium lauryl ether sulfate.   At low pH, these substances plus the c-o-s bond hydrolyze to produce alcohol and inorganic sulfate. At a high pH, sulfate is stable in the base and, if ethoxylated to a relatively high level, produces a low-foaming alkali-soluble surfactant. Sulphates can be prepared by reaction of fatty alcohol or fatty alcohol ethoxylates with reagents such as SO3 or chlorosulfonic acid (CSA).   The reason shampoo becomes thick foam in the shower is that it contains sulfate. Most shampoos and household cleansers contain su...

What Are the Advantages of DMC Catalyst?

DMC catalyst is a new type of high-performance catalytic olefin oxide ring-opening polymerization catalyst, suitable for synthesis of olefin oxide polyether containing 1-6 functional groups. DMC catalyst manufacturers usually use low molecular weight organic complexing agents. The complexing agents beneficially affect the activity of the catalyst for epoxide polymerization. The production of polyether with DMC catalyst has the following advantages: Low production and running costs 1) No post-processing process and faster reaction speed increase the production capacity of the device by several times. 2) No post-treatment process reduces equipment investment, unit product energy consumption and water consumption, unit product solid waste and waste water production, and improves product yield. 3) It can produce higher molecular weight products with molecular weight of more than 2000 per mole of hydroxyl group. 4) The produced polyether has the characteristics of narrow molecular weigh...