The awareness and development of 'biodegradable' surfactants pre-dates current pressures by the environmental movement by nearly three decades, wherein a responsible industry mutually agreed to replace 'hard', non-biodegradable com ponents of household detergents by 'soft', biodegradable alternatives, without course to legislation. The only requirement at that time was for surfactants used in detergents to exhibit a 'primary biodegradability' in excess of 80%; this referring to the disap pearance or removal from solution of the intact surface active material as de tected by specified...

Like the preceding volumes, Volume 3 of Annual Surfactants Review focuses on the diversity of surfactants, both in terms of chemical structure and physico-chemical/surface active properties. Although they may be predictable for simple molecules, for most commercial surfactants, this is not easy. It remains important, however, to understand the interactions within a multi-component mixture in order to select the most appropriate product for an application.
Chapter One of this volume considers surfactant application in the context of structure-performance relationships. It forms a unique...

Surfactant technology represents a vibrant and challenging area of physico-chemical science - exact mechanisms of well-established processes are not often fully understood, thus creating continued debate. Journals are available which briefly report on the range of advances in this area, and there are books focusing on specific classes of surfactant or their defined end-uses. However, the Annual Surfactants Review series presents important recent developments in surfactant technology in a clear, informative, and thorough style, fully appraising the latest developments for all those interested...