• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.546-567
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• 2015

Silicone-based surfactants consist of a hydrophobic organosilicone group coupled to one or more hydrophilic polar groups, while the hydrophobic groups of hydrocarbon surfactants are hydrocarbons. Silicone surfactants have been widely used in many industrial fields starting from polyurethane foam to construction materials, cosmetics, paints & inks, agrochemicals, etc., because of their low surface tension, lubricity, spreading, water repellency and thermal and chemical stability. A wide range of silicone surfactant structures are required to provide the functional diversity for reflecting the necessities in the various applications. This review covers the basic properties and the synthetic schemes of polydimethylsiloxane and reactive polysiloxanes as hydrophobic siloxane backbones, the main reaction schemes, such as hydrosilylation reaction, for coupling reactive polysiloxanes to hydrophilic groups, and the synthetic schemes of the main polysiloxane surfactants including polyether-, ionic-, carbohydrate-type surfactants.