Review on Silicone Surfactants: Silicone-based Gemini Surfactants, Physicochemical Properties and Applications

Abstract The increasing use of silicone polymers has attracted the interest of many researchers and manufacturers for the past three decades. The silicone surfactants have excellent surface properties, of which the wetting and spreading ability is particularly noteworthy. So silicone surfactants are used in various fields, starting with textiles to agriculture. Because of this particular wetting and spreading property, silicone surfactants will be used together with conventional surfactants to achieve the desired throughput. In this paper we describe in detail the origin of silicone surfactants and various silicone surfactant compounds, as well as their physicochemical properties. We also handle various applications of silicone surfactants in agriculture, textile manufacturing, personal care and cosmetics, polyurethane foam, metal extraction, foam floatation and other industrial applications. However, the main focus is on the latest syntheses, developments and applications of newly developed tailor-made molecules.