Surfactant Aggregation

Surface active agents (surfactants) occur widely in nature, being found in locations as different as the membranes of living cells and in crude oil. Compounds in this class are surface active because of their amphiphilic nature. A consequence of this is that they have a remarkable tendency to aggregate in a variety of forms whose exact structures depend on the state of solvency and on some simple, but at times subtle, geometric packing considerations. This book represents an attempt to bring together all of these effects, including adsorption at planar liquid interfaces, in a unified treatment. This volume aims to teach the important principles behind surfactant aggregation and how these can be applied to the various systems which result from such aggregation. It is especially intended that this treatment will bring a high degree of uniformity to the description of many phenomena which have hitherto been treated separately. Written for researchers, formulators and industrial product development technologists interested in surface and colloid science.