Triton X-100 is a colorless or nearly colorless transparent viscous liquid. It is soluble in water, toluene, xylene, and ethanol, but insoluble in petroleum ether. It is used as a stationary phase in gas chromatography (with maximum usage temperatures up to 190°C, using solvents such as acetone, chloroform, dichloromethane, and methanol) for the separation and analysis of hydrocarbon compounds, oxygenated compounds (alcohols, esters, ketones), bases, and neutrals. Triton X-100 is a widely used non-ionic surfactant, utilized under mild denaturing conditions for the recovery of membrane components.

Triton is a commonly used non-ionic surfactant with an appearance that is colorless or almost transparent and viscous, soluble in water, toluene, xylene, and ethanol, but insoluble in petroleum ether. There are typically two common types: Triton-100 and Triton-114. Triton-100 is polyethylene glycol mono-octylphenyl ether, and Triton-114 is diethylene glycol mono[(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenyl] ether.