Significant correlations become apparent between synergisms of micelle formation in surfactant mixtures and a series of physico-chemical properties and applications. Examples are emulsifying, dispersing, wetting, flotation, washing and cleaning ability. As a result, the effect of a co-surfactant with respect to problems of application can be predicted by a few surface tension measurements only.

The article contains sections titled: 1. Introduction 2. Theory of Foam and Foam Control 2.1. Characteristic Properties of Foam 2.2. Foam Formation 2.2.1. Surface Activity of Adsorbed Surfactants 2.2.2. Methods of Foam Generation 2.3. Foam Stability 2.3.1. Gibbs Film Elasticity and Marangoni Effect 2.3.2. Rheological Aspects of Foam Stability 2.3.3. Electrostatic Foam Stabilization 2.3.4. Mechanism of Lamellar Rupture 2.4. Foam Inhibition and Destruction 2.4.1. Chemical Foam Inhibition and Destruction 2.4.2. Mechanical Defoaming 3. Antifoaming Agent Composition 3.1. Carrier Oils 3.2. Silicone Oils and Silicone Foam Inhibitors 3.3. Hydrophobic Silica 3.4. Hydrophobic Fat Derivatives and Waxes 3.5. Water‐Insoluble Polymers 3.6. Amphiphilic Components 3.7. Emulsifiers 3.8. Coupling Agents 4. Mechanical Means of Combating Foam 5. Foam Problems in Specific Applications 5.1. Detergents 5.2. Food and Beverage Industries 5.2.1. Cleansing and Disinfecting 5.2.1.1. Tank Cleansing Based on the Cleaning‐in‐Place (CIP) Method 5.2.1.2. Cleansing of Returnable Bottles 5.2.2. Food Processing 5.2.2.1. Sugar 5.2.2.2. Yeast 5.2.2.3. Potatoes 5.3. Metal Treatment 5.3.1. Foam Problems Associated with Cooling Lubricants 5.3.2. Foam in Alkaline Cleansing Solutions 5.3.3. Foam Control in Neutral Cleansers 5.4. Polymer Industry 5.5. Paint and Coating Industry 5.6. Construction Industry 5.7. Adhesives Industry 5.8. Textile Industry 5.8.1. Pretreatment 5.8.2. Dyeing 5.8.3. Foam Application of Textile Auxiliaries 5.9. Leather Industry 5.10. Pulp and Paper Industry 5.10.1. Pulping 5.10.2. Pulping Liquor Disposal 5.10.3. Air Content of Pulp Suspensions 5.10.4. Conversion to Paper 5.10.5. Paper Coating 5.10.6. Waste Paper Deinking 5.11. Phosphoric Acid Manufacture 5.12. Wastewater Treatment 6. Testing Methods 7. Legal Aspects 8. Economic Aspects

Abstract:The phase behavior of multicomponent systems, especially of emulsions conraining cetostearyl alcohol and fatty alcohol polyglycol ethers has been investigated. At the phase inversion from o/w to w/o emulsions, one-phase regions containing lamellar liquid crystals have been observed. In appropriate ratios of the amphiphiles, extremely low interfacial tensions (~ 10 -3 mN/m) are obtained, which lead to very easy emulsification and narrow particle size distribution. Thermoanalysis (DSC) and microscopy of binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures demonstrate the existence of hydrated crystals or gels at room temperature. Anisotropic phases could be identified around oil droplets of more coarse emulsions. Emulsions prepared at low temperatures possess structural viscosity. Increasing the temperature leads to newtonian behavior. At medium emulsifier concentrations fluid and stable emulsions are obtained. There is a strong dependence of the properties of the emulsions on the polarity of the oil phase. It can be concluded that the ability to form fine droplets, the viscosity and the long term stability of cosmetic emulsions do not depend on the properties of the fatty alcohol alone but on the mixed phases formed by the emulsifier and the alcohol.

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In laundering, oily soils are detached from textile surfaces and dispersed. In addition, the washing solution should reduce the redeposition of free suspended soilparticles onto the textile fibres.In the case of a recommended predetermined dosage of a detergent the main part of the required stabilizing effect is due to the surfactants, complexing agents, builders and zeolites. Polymei'ic antiredeposition agents cause only gradual additionalimprovements. In the case of a weak dosage the stabilizing effects of the surfactants and builders rapidly decrease and the effects of the polymeric antiredeposition agents increase.The mechanism of these effects is characterized by high selectivity of the textile substrates. In the case of polar textiles (for instance cotton) carboxy methyl cellulose is often successfully used. In this case the mode of action is mostly due to steric repulsion of the adsorbed layer.In the case of hydrophobic polyester fibres cellulose ethers with hydrophohic sidechains (for instance hydroxy propyl cellulose) show very good effects. In this case the stetic component of the polymeric repulsion is supported by the decrease of the driving force of the heterocoagulation (hydrophilization of all hydrophohic interfaces). For this reason combinations of several antiredeposition agents are often used for mixed fabrics.The performenace of the polymeric agents for polyesters can be characterized by their ability to cause strong effective irreversible hydrophilization effects despite the competitive influences of the residual detergent ingrediences.