Answer to Question #35969 in Inorganic Chemistry for Aaron

Question

I was told that it is better to use an amphiphilic detergent such as Pluronic f68 rather than mix a hydrophilic one with a hydrophobic one. Why is this the case?

Answer 1

The most valuable in practical terms due to their surfactant properties diphilic - the presence of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. The dual nature of the surfactant molecules promotes spontaneous accumulation of interfacial where each of the parts of the molecule can interact with the environment , which has the greatest affinity . This orientation of the molecules responsible diphilic minimum Gibbs free energy of the system.
Mixing hydrophobic and hydrophilic cleaners is just does not make sense , because they work in the appropriate environment. Therefore we can use a simple one of them. Amphilic cleaners apply when you do not know what is the environment . They work in any of them.