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Cationic surfactants : A review

Gonçalves, Rui A. ; Holmberg, Krister and Lindman, Björn LU (2023) In Journal of Molecular Liquids 375.
Abstract

Cationic surfactants have gained significant interest since their introduction. Their properties and adsorption behavior onto different surfaces have driven the development of a plethora of surfactants with distinctive functionalities. This paper reviews self-assembly, intermolecular interactions, and the properties of cationic surfactants also when interacting with co-solutes, which may be small molecules or macromolecules, and surfaces. The versatile properties of single- and double-chain cationic surfactants and other special cationics such as gemini, catanionic, bolaform, amino acid- and sugar-based surfactants, are presented and discussed together with skin toxicity and environmental considerations. The effects of cationic... (More)

Cationic surfactants have gained significant interest since their introduction. Their properties and adsorption behavior onto different surfaces have driven the development of a plethora of surfactants with distinctive functionalities. This paper reviews self-assembly, intermolecular interactions, and the properties of cationic surfactants also when interacting with co-solutes, which may be small molecules or macromolecules, and surfaces. The versatile properties of single- and double-chain cationic surfactants and other special cationics such as gemini, catanionic, bolaform, amino acid- and sugar-based surfactants, are presented and discussed together with skin toxicity and environmental considerations. The effects of cationic surfactant mixing with other surfactants, polymers, proteins, and DNA are also shown and examined. We also outline established applications of cationic surfactants as disinfectants, in fabric softening, hard surface cleaning, personal care applications, road surfacing, and oil field applications, as well as emerging applications such as soft antimicrobial agents and nucleic acid delivery, which has contributed, for instance, to the enormously successful surfactant-based mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Antimicrobial, Cationic, Double-chain, Polymer, Single-chain, Surfactant
in
Journal of Molecular Liquids
volume
375
article number
121335
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85147545006
ISSN
0167-7322
DOI
10.1016/j.molliq.2023.121335
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c9c7e1be-b1fd-468e-9961-65ebaf46aa78
date added to LUP
2023-03-10 13:56:38
date last changed
2023-03-10 13:56:38
@article{c9c7e1be-b1fd-468e-9961-65ebaf46aa78,
  abstract     = {{<p>Cationic surfactants have gained significant interest since their introduction. Their properties and adsorption behavior onto different surfaces have driven the development of a plethora of surfactants with distinctive functionalities. This paper reviews self-assembly, intermolecular interactions, and the properties of cationic surfactants also when interacting with co-solutes, which may be small molecules or macromolecules, and surfaces. The versatile properties of single- and double-chain cationic surfactants and other special cationics such as gemini, catanionic, bolaform, amino acid- and sugar-based surfactants, are presented and discussed together with skin toxicity and environmental considerations. The effects of cationic surfactant mixing with other surfactants, polymers, proteins, and DNA are also shown and examined. We also outline established applications of cationic surfactants as disinfectants, in fabric softening, hard surface cleaning, personal care applications, road surfacing, and oil field applications, as well as emerging applications such as soft antimicrobial agents and nucleic acid delivery, which has contributed, for instance, to the enormously successful surfactant-based mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.</p>}},
  author       = {{Gonçalves, Rui A. and Holmberg, Krister and Lindman, Björn}},
  issn         = {{0167-7322}},
  keywords     = {{Antimicrobial; Cationic; Double-chain; Polymer; Single-chain; Surfactant}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Molecular Liquids}},
  title        = {{Cationic surfactants : A review}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2023.121335}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.molliq.2023.121335}},
  volume       = {{375}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}