The main difference between dispersants and surfactants is that dispersants can improve particle separation in suspensions, while surfactants are substances that can reduce surface tension between two phases of a substance.
Dispersant is a form of surfactant. But all surfactants are not dispersants. In addition to acting as a dispersant, surfactants can also serve as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, and foaming agents. Usually, they are organic compounds. What is a dispersant?
Dispersants are liquids or gases used to disperse small particles in a medium. We also refer to it as a "plasticizer". They come in two forms. Non surface active polymers and surfactants. We add these substances to the suspension to avoid the formation of particle clusters. To avoid cluster formation, this improves particle separation. In addition, this process prevents particle settling. In most cases, dispersants consist of one or more surfactant substances.
