Less troubled waters

摘要

In chemistry, as in personal relations, reducing tension is important if you want mixing to occur. In a chemical context, the surface tension between liquids that do not mix easily, such as oil and water, can be reduced using a surface-active agent, or surfactant. That is what allows soap, the oldest artificial surfactant, to lift oily dirt from clothes and skin into water. In many situations, it would be useful to be able to "tune" the surfactant, and adjust the level of surface tension.