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 term surface energy, which is a more general term in the sense that it applies also to solids. In materials science, surface tension is used for either surface stress or surface energy. Due to the cohesive forces a molecule is pulled equally in every direction by neighboring liquid molecules, resulting in a net force of zero. The molecules at the surface do not have the "same" molecules on all sides of them and therefore are pulled inward. This creates some internal pressure and forces liquid surfaces to contract to the minimal area. The forces of attraction acting between the molecules