Wetting Agents

A: Wetting agent is a surfactant that reduces the gas–liquid surface tension of a liquid, causing the liquid to spread across or penetrate more easily the surface of a solid either clean or dirty. Dispersants are also surfactants.

A: The active ingredient is usually a 'surfactant', which behaves in the same way as a detergent: a long molecule that contains a 'tail' and a hydrophilic 'head'. The head can be positively charged (cationic), negatively charged (anionic) or carry no charge (non-ionic).

A: One method of knowing whether or not a liquid has a wetting agent in it is to spread the liquid on a surface that is coated in grease. If the liquid does not contain a wetting agent, the its cohesive forces would overpower adhesive forces, causing the liquid to for droplets on the surface.

A: Most of the common wetting agents work only once and thereafter quickly lose their efficacy. Some wetting agents are unstable and start to biodegrade after 6 only months, meaning the shelf life of sealed bags from the producer gives the grower only a very short period of effective use.

A: Granular wetting agent treatment can last for up to five months in domestic lawns providing it is applied in the spring when conditions are wet or when it is thoroughly watered in.

A: Addition of wetting agents — amphiphilic molecules with hydrophobic tails and hydrophilic heads in their chemical structures — reduces the surface tension of water and simultaneously allows the wetting agents to pass into the soil, thereby increasing infiltration and water retention.

A: Wetting agents, also known as surfactants, are used in electroplating nickel baths to promote full wetting of component surfaces which reduces surface tensions and prevents the formation of pit holes caused by adhering hydrogen bubbles.