See stickers and surfactants for descriptions of individual types of adjuvants. Surface active agent. Surface active agents are surfactants. See Surfactant . Surfactants are adjuvants that reduce the surface tensions of solutions, helping them spread and cover surfaces more effectively.
Surfactants are probably the best-known class of adjuvants.
Most adjuvants are a double-ended molecule, one end being water soluble and one end being oil soluble. Therefore, these molecules can line up between waterlike compounds and oillike compounds and make them more compatible. Suspension agents aid the suspension of one material in another. These types of adjuvants are often used in liquid fertilizer mixes as well as in liquid pesticide formulations to help maintain a uniform product mix. Thickeners are adjuvants that increase the viscosity of solutions.