How to Use surfactant in a Sentence

surfactant

noun
  • To spread the mixture out, Zoll gently taps it with the tip of a pipette dipped in a surfactant—dish soap in this case.
    Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 23 Mar. 2022
  • The alveoli collapse due to loss of surfactant from Type II cells.
    Avesta Rastan, Discover Magazine, 9 June 2020
  • Look for enzymes or surfactants which are often used to help break down greasy residues.
    Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2023
  • Wakayama turned out to be integral to the story of the breakthrough surfactant.
    Kao Contributor, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022
  • One, colored red in the video above, contained a compound called a surfactant, which makes the ink less adhesive.
    Tess Joosse, Science | AAAS, 24 Mar. 2021
  • That surfactant strengthens the liquid film walls of the bubbles to keep them from collapsing.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 19 June 2019
  • Instead the smoothing came when the researchers added surfactants.
    Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 26 Apr. 2023
  • That's because the soap acts as a surface active agent, or surfactant, and leaves behind a thin film that helps prevents fog.
    Juliana Labianca, Good Housekeeping, 28 Apr. 2020
  • That's because the soap acts as a surface-active agent, or surfactant, and leaves behind a thin film that helps prevents fog.
    Juliana Labianca, Good Housekeeping, 12 Jan. 2021
  • Each pack contains surfactants and a color-safe bleach to clean and remove carpet stains.
    Carolyn Forté, Good Housekeeping, 15 Aug. 2023
  • Adding surfactants makes the colors float so that they can be stirred—perhaps with a very fine human hair—or fanned out by blowing on the circles of ink or paint with a straw.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 Dec. 2023
  • Its foaming texture comes from surfactants, which can be drying for non-oily skin.
    Nicole Cain Nd, Ma, Health, 27 Apr. 2023
  • In this activity the surface tension is lowered in the area where the surfactant is added, and the higher surface tension in front of the raft pulls the raft forward.
    Science Buddies, Scientific American, 26 June 2014
  • Water sucks at getting grease off, so Tide uses compounds called surfactants that mix well with both.
    Chelsea Leu, WIRED, 27 May 2016
  • This is a big subject, but for our purposes, a surfactant is added to a personal care product, such as shampoo, to clean the hair and to make bubbles.
    Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2020
  • The mixture includes sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant used in soaps) and malic acid (found in fruit).
    Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, 12 Mar. 2023
  • Soap is a surfactant with a low surface tension, while water is a liquid with quite a high surface tension.
    Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 10 Nov. 2020
  • Having lots of suds may mean stains are washed away, but those bubbles are the result of surfactants, which can also cause allergic skin rashes.
    Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, 29 Dec. 2023
  • One idea is that a yawn can help distribute a protective wetting agent called surfactant in the lungs and prevent them from collapsing.
    Jennifer Walter, Discover Magazine, 29 Dec. 2020
  • The researchers used a typical solution of water, glycerol, and a surfactant to make a simple 2D foam squashed between two plates of glass.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 19 June 2019
  • How detergent works The water in your machine is what cleans your clothes; detergent adds surfactants to that water.
    Laura Daily, Washington Post, 16 Oct. 2023
  • The surfactant’s different response to the two liquids allows the coated mesh to separate them.
    Leah Shaffer, Discover Magazine, 29 Nov. 2015
  • The mixture uses the active ingredients sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant used in soaps) and malic acid (found in fruit) and comes in a stand-up jar.
    Lauren Piro, Good Housekeeping, 13 Jan. 2021
  • To verify that surface tension did indeed play a role in the gecko's surface skimming ability, the researchers added a surfactant (dish soap) to the water.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 6 Dec. 2018
  • Some people find that surfactants take away too many of their skin’s natural oils, disrupting the skin’s barrier and drying them out.
    Sara Coughlin, SELF, 1 May 2019
  • Bio IOS is a unique surfactant, highly soluble in water while at the same time retaining high affinity to oils.
    Kao Contributor, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022
  • The premade mixture uses the active ingredients sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant used in soaps) and malic acid (found in fruit) and comes in a stand-up jar.
    Lauren Piro, Good Housekeeping, 30 June 2023
  • Apply the product with a surfactant when two days with temperatures over 45 degrees are forecast.
    Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 26 Dec. 2019
  • Created from the residue of pressed palm oil, Bio IOS was developed with sustainability in mind and is the world’s first real sustainable surfactant in 50 years.
    Kao Contributor, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022
  • Lauramidopropyl betaine, a surfactant that behaves like soap, was the best option.
    Kristen Rogers, CNN, 17 June 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'surfactant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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