Hydrocarbon chains are long chains which consist of a carbon backbone hydrogen substituents, making them very hydrophobic. Hydrocarbon chains alone form waxes and oils and retain these characteristics when they are incorporated into surfactant. A good example of surfactants containing a hydrocarbon chain are lipids, which form cell membranes.
Alkyl ether chains are similar to hydrocarbon chains, except with oxygens incorporated within the backbone as well as carbons. There are two alkyl chains commonly used in surfactants: polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide. Polyethylene oxide chains have an oxygen and two carbon (-O-CH-CH-) repeating unit and has an increased hydrophilic character compared to hydrocarbons. Polypropylene oxide has the same backbone structure as polyethylene oxide but with a methyl group substituent of one of the carbons, and this structure has hydrophobicity between hydrocarbons and polyethylene oxides.
Fluorocarbon chain tails consist of a carbon backbone that has fluorine substituents instead of hydrogens. Fluorocarbons help to lower the surface tension of water and other solvents because of their lipophobic nature even in harsh conditions such as low pH. When fluorocarbons are incorporated into surfactants they are used as stain repellents and incorporated into coatings in order to decrease surface defects.
Siloxane chains consist of a backbone which contains alternating oxygen and silicon atoms. Surfactants with siloxane tails have been found to resist hydrolysis and prevent breakdown polymer chains which can cause cracking in the paint and are thus used in products such as cosmetics, deodorants, defoamer, and soap.