We provide here a general view on the interactions of surfactants with viruses, with a particular emphasis on how such interactions can be controlled and employed for inhibiting the infectivity of enveloped viruses, including coronaviruses. The aim is to provide to interested scientists from different fields, including chemistry, physics, biochemistry, and medicine, an overview of the basic properties of surfactants and (corona)viruses, which are relevant to understanding the interactions between the two. Various types of interactions between surfactant and virus are important, and they act on different components of a virus such as the lipid envelope, membrane (envelope) proteins and nucleocapsid proteins. Accordingly, this cannot be a detailed account of all relevant aspects but instead a summary that bridges between the different disciplines. We describe concepts and cover a selection of the relevant literature as an incentive for diving deeper into the relevant material. Our focus is on more recent developments around the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, applications of surfactants against the virus, and on the potential future use of surfactants for pandemic relief. We also cover the most important aspects of the historical development of using surfactants in combatting virus infections. We conclude that surfactants are already playing very important roles in various directions of defence against viruses, either directly, as in disinfection, or as carrier components of drug delivery systems for prophylaxis or treatment. By designing tailor-made surfactants, and consequently, advanced formulations, one can expect more and more effective use of surfactants, either directly as antiviral compounds or as part of more complex formulations.

我们在这里提供了表面活性剂与病毒相互作用的一般观点，特别强调如何控制和利用这种相互作用来抑制包膜病毒（包括冠状病毒）的感染性。目的是向来自化学、物理、生物化学和医学等不同领域感兴趣的科学家提供表面活性剂和（冠状）病毒的基本特性的概述，这与理解两者之间的相互作用有关。表面活性剂和病毒之间的各种类型的相互作用都很重要，它们作用于病毒的不同成分，例如脂质包膜、膜（包膜）蛋白和核衣壳蛋白。因此，这不可能是所有相关方面的详细说明，而是在不同学科之间架起桥梁的总结。我们描述了概念并涵盖了精选的相关文献，作为深入研究相关材料的激励。我们的重点是围绕由 SARS-CoV-2 引起的 COVID-19 大流行的最新进展、表面活性剂对抗病毒的应用，以及表面活性剂未来用于缓解大流行的潜在用途。我们还介绍了使用表面活性剂对抗病毒感染的历史发展的最重要方面。我们得出的结论是，表面活性剂已经在防御病毒的各个方向上发挥着非常重要的作用，无论是直接发挥作用，如消毒，还是作为用于预防或治疗的药物输送系统的载体成分。通过设计定制的表面活性剂以及先进的配方，人们可以期望越来越有效地使用表面活性剂，无论是直接作为抗病毒化合物还是作为更复杂配方的一部分。