Fundamental property and functional aptitude relationships in emulsion and foam applications of amphiphilic compounds

Amphiphilic compounds are issued of a combination of two opposite entities, covalently assemblied within a single structure. By the diversity of the origin, class, number of monomer and substitute, size, linker or spacer, stereochemistry of the molecular entities, their chemical structure may be very different but also close each other. However, they may fulfill the same role in reducing surface and interfacial free energy in dynamic or static ways, ensuring especially the formation of dispersed systems like emulsion and foam. If the relationships between the structural variable and fundamental properties are strictly chemical residue dependent, those between fundamental and functional aptitudes are not necessarily. In this case, general and universal rules may exist, whatever the kind of amphiphilic compounds. In order to achieve a rational design for any expected functionality, we attempt to find out some predictive and conception rules from a lot of screening data of fundamental and functional properties. In this communication, some correlations between fundamental data related to surface and interfacial properties, measured by molecule adsorption or spreading under dynamic or static mode, in compression or dilation of adsorbed or spread film, and emulsifying and foaming performances of various bio-based surfactants will be presented.