Comparative analysis of the properties of Tween-20, Tween-60, Tween-80, Arlacel-60, and Arlacel-80

Foamability and foam stability, emulsifying power, surface tension, and interfacial tension were investigated for Tween-20 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate), Tween-60 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate), Tween-80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate), Arlacel-60 (Sorbitan stearate), and Arlacel-80 (Sorbitan oleate). Among all the surfactants tested for their foaming power and foamabilty, Arlacel-60 and Arlacel-80 showed the best results; the foaming power and foamability was found to be 100%. The surfactants having foam stability more than 50% can be considered as metastable and those less than 50% are considered as low-stability foams. In case of surface tension and interfacial tension property measurements, Arlacel-80 showed the best results. At 1% surfactant concentration, the surface tension and interfacial tension of Arlacel-80 was found to be 29.9 dynes/cm and 1.1 dynes/cm at 30 degrees C ambient temperature. Also, Arlacel-60 was found to exhibit the best emulsifying power among all the surfactants tested. At 30 degrees C, the emulsifying property of Arlacel-60 was 6 hours.