Surfactant order to manipulate growth. and assembly of the dots, reactions on their surface, electrical properties, etc., it is important to understand how surfactants arrange on the surface of the quantum dots. Surfactant Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants. The term "surfactant" is a blend of "surface active agent". In the United States National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary, "surfactant" is reserved for the meaning
Surface tension interfaces, one inside and one outside. Surface tension is dependent on temperature. For that reason, when a value is given for the surface tension of an interface, temperature must be explicitly stated. The general trend is that surface tension decreases with the increase of temperature, reaching a value of 0 at the critical temperature. For further details see Eötvös rule. There are only empirical equations to relate surface tension and temperature: Here is the molar volume of a substance, is the critical temperature and is a constant valid for almost all substances. A typical value is = . For water