Surfactants play an important role in every day life, for instance as major components in soaps. Since they feature hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts in their structure, they accumulate at water interfaces with air and can there influence the rate of evaporation of the solution or the efficiency with which gas molecules are taken up by the solution, a process that is for instance important for the incorporation of carbon dioxide into the oceans.
Click here for original story, Ångstrom-depth resolution with chemical specificity at the liquid-vapor interface
Source: Phys.org