Surface Activity: Principles, Phenomena and Applications

The first book in a new series edited by Toyoichi Tanaka, "Surface Activity" illustrates the fundamentals and principles of surfactants, and describes the applications of surface activity to our everyday life and industry. It is written to display the most essential concepts and up-to-date research results on surface activity phenomenon. The book covers the concepts of surface (interfacial) tension and its characteristic properties. "Surface Activity" presents conventional and potential applications, and proposes creative and original ideas for future research and development for consumer products such as detergents, toiletries and cosmetics. The book also discusses potential applications for lypotropic liquid crystals, new drug delivery systems, molecular electronics, and environmental concerns. This book will be of value to researchers, yet beginners in this field will also be able to understand the essential concepts. It describes surface activity from basic principles to practical applications and presents the applications of wetting, foaming and defoaming, emulsions, etc., for detergents, toiletries, cosmetics and other industrial uses.

It describes environmental problems and gives potential future applications for drug delivery systems, sensors, and molecular electronics.