What do ionic detergents do?

Ionic detergents have a charged hydrophilic head group. They can be either negatively charged (anionic) or positively charged (cationic). The presence of a charge enables ionic detergents to bind to protein molecules strongly, completely changing the protein’s structure and charge.

Ionic detergents are the preferred choice for gel electrophoresis, where the result involves denaturing proteins and totally disrupting cellular structures.