Silicon-modified carbohydrate surfactants. VII: Impact of different silicon substructures on the wetting behaviour of carbohydrate surfactants on low-energy surfaces : Distance decay of donor-acceptor forces

The wetting behaviour of carbohydrate surfactants bearing siloxane, carbosilane, polysilane or silane moieties has been investigated. By static surface tension (γlv, σ) and wetting tension (γsv−γsl, α) measurements on a non-polar perfluorinated surface (FEP®), the contact angles of aqueous surfactant solutions above the critical micelle formation concentration (cmc) were determined. Surface tension and wetting tension react independently on defined changes in the chemical structure of the surfactant molecules. Siloxane surfactants reduce the surface tension most effectively, whereas for a neopentyl-substituted silane derivative the lowest solid/liquid interfacial tension was found. The data for isomeric siloxanes, carbosilanes and silanes suggest that donor–acceptor forces at solid interfaces have a maximum range of about 4.5 A. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.