Tween-80 polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate (Mm 1308 Da; 20 oxyethylene groups; HLB 15.0) belongs to the class of biodegradable and low-toxic surfactants. With it, you can get microemulsions. In aqueous micropelts of microemulsions, metallic nanoparticles are obtained by reducing their ions with borohydride and hydrazine. A slight difference in the surfactant composition will not affect the quality of the nanoparticles.

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Polysorbate 80 is derived from polyethoxylated sorbitan and oleic acid. The hydrophilic groups in this compound are polyethers also known as polyoxyethylene groups, which are polymers of ethylene oxide. In the nomenclature of polysorbates, the numeric designation following polysorbate refers to the lipophilic group, in this case the oleic acid (see polysorbate for more detail).

The full chemical names for polysorbate 80 are:

Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate

(x)-sorbitan mono-9-octadecenoate poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl)

The critical micelle concentration of polysorbate 80 in pure water is reported as 0.012 mM.

See attached info may be useful for you.

Good luck!

Thank you so much Yuri Mirgorod and Karen A. Darbinyan for your timely and professional response.

The surfactant Tween 80 is graded usually as ''tween 80 for synthesis'', ''for microbial culture'', and so on on. I was wondering if one could , for example, use the grade of Tween 80 for biochemical research in the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles without any harm, if that is what is available. But I think Yuri Mirgorod's last sentence gives a clue to my question ''A slight difference in the surfactant composition will not affect the quality of the nanoparticles.'' I will however, take my time to go through the papers sent here.