Research progress in the synthesis and application of surfactants based on trisiloxane

•1. Surfactants based on trisiloxane group;•2. Synthetic strategies and performance of various trisiloxane surfactants;•3. Application of trisiloxane surfactant. Silicone surfactants whose hydrophobic groups are partially or wholly composed of siloxanes have many excellent properties compared to traditional alkyl surfactants due to their different hydrophobic chain segments, such as high surface activity, low toxicity, good biocompatibility, and interfacial modification properties. Due to the SiOSi structure with high bond energy, good stretchability and rotatability, trisiloxane surfactants with trisiloxane as the hydrophobic group have been widely studied for their unique softness and “super wetting” ability. In this paper, we review the synthesis methods and performance of anionic, cationic, nonionic, zwitterionic, and Gemini trisiloxane surfactants. An outlook on the application prospects of surfactants in the fields of biomedicine, aerospace, high-end daily chemicals, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is provided.