Technical Info Norac Concepts Inc.
Agral 90
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Surfactants

The term means SURFace ACTive AgeNT. A surfactant is a compound which, when added in very small quantities, reduces the surface tension of a liquid. Depending upon chemical composition and the nature of the surfaces involved, a surfactant is used to promote or affect such properties as wetting, detergency, foaming, emulsification lubrication.

There are three physical property measurements that indicate the surface activities of surfactants. Surfactants such as Agral® 90 and SideKickTM are tested at 0.20 to 0.25% v/v, while organosilicone wetters such as Sylgard® 309 are tested at 0.1% in distilled water.

Contact Angle

Contact angle is a profile measurement of a drop of water in contact with a solid surface. When a surfactant is added to a solution, surface tension is reduced and the water droplet becomes flatter; thus there is a lower contact angle. The lower the contact angle, the better the wetting properties of the surfactant. While the contact angle of pure water is about 94o, Agral 90 and SideKick will develop an angle between 30o and 45o while Sylgard 309 will develop an angle of 15o or less.

Draves Wetting Time

Draves Wetting is a test to measure the time (in seconds) it takes to wet a 5 gram woven cotton thread. The shorter the time it takes to wet the thread, the better wetting characteristics the surfactant. Pure water score is 300 seconds or more. Superior wetting agent such as Agral 90 and SideKick at 0.25% v/v concentration will require less than 20 seconds for wetting to occur.

Surface Tension

Surface tension is a condition that exists at the free surface of a liquid. The test measures the force to pull a floating ring on a surface and measurements are in dynes/cm. The higher the number, the more force must be applied. Surfactants will reduce surface tension, thus reducing the number. Water surface tension is 73 dynes/cm while surfactants such as Agral 90 and SideKick at 0.25% v/v concentration will typically generate 30 - 50 dynes/cm while wetters such as Sylgard 309 results are between 10 and 40 dynes.

Agral 90 and SideKick are both high quality 90% non-ionic surfactants that will ensure improved performance of many herbicides and other crop chemicals. Sylgard 309 is a silicone based non-ionic surfactant.


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Last updated: 14/02/2000
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