Interfacial properties of (super)spreading trisiloxane surfactants

Trisiloxane surfactants have been reported to have unusual interfacial properties, which was considered to be the root cause why some trisiloxane surfactants show exceptionally good spreading properties on hydrophobic substrates, so-called superspreading. Therefore, the behavior of those surfactants at all interfaces involved has been critically discussed, because some of the findings published in the past are quite counterintuitive. As it turns out, there does not seem to be anything unusual concerning trisiloxane surfactants – their interfacial behavior follows the rules of basic physical chemistry. [Display omitted] •Superspreading must be caused by the interfacial behavior of the surfactants.•Any explanation must also explain why nonsuperspreading trisiloxanes are different.•There is nothing magic about the interfacial behavior of trisiloxane surfactants.