Superspreading — 20 years of physicochemical research

Superspreading is a fascinating phenomenon observed with dilute solutions of trisiloxane surfactants on hydrophobic substrates. It has attracted much attention both from a theoretical point of view and because of the practical application of the effect e.g. for agrochemical formulations. The first physicochemical paper on the mechanism of superspreading was published exactly 20 years ago. Since then many groups all over the world contributed significantly to the understanding of this phenomenon. However, it will continue to be an active field of research in interface science because there are still open questions concerning the mode of action of the surfactants in the superspreading process.

Graphical abstractDroplets of A) water, B) standard surfactant and C) superspreading surfactant on hydrophobic substrates: explaining the mode of action of superspreading has kept scientists busy for the past 20 years!Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (791 K)Download as PowerPoint slideResearch Highlights► Many papers on the mechanism of superspreading of trisiloxane surfactants published. ► Still no general agreement on which of the hypotheses is the most relevant. ► More work needed to elucidate the mechanism of superspreading.