Cationic surfactants Fabric softeners

Chem. Descrip. Dioleyl imidazoline methosuifate Ionic Nature Cationic Uses Fabric softener, surfactant Properties Vise, iiq. 75% cone. 

Quaternary ammonium compounds are cationic surfactants that bind well to anionic surfaces like the protein in hair. The ammonium end sticks to the hair, leaving the long fatty end of the molecule to act as a lubricant. They are slightly conductive, so they reduce the buildup of static electricity. Quats, as they are sometimes called, include compounds like stearalkonium chloride, disteardimonium chloride, quaternium-5, or quaternium-18, polyquaternium-10 and they are all similar in form and function to cetrimonium chloride. These compounds are also widely used as fabric softeners, for all of the same reasons they make good hair conditioners. They are also used to thicken the shampoo. 

Yet another ingredient in laundry detergents is diethyl ester dimethyl ammonium chloride (DEEDMAC). It is a fabric softener. It is a cationic surfactant that is rapidly biodegradable. It works by reducing the friction between fibers, and between fibers and... 

Amines are important industrial chemicals which are involved in everyday life [3, 4]. Apart from the usual classification into primary, secondary, and tertiary amines, the distinction is often made between lighf amines (less than six-carbon substituents) and fatty amines. light amines are intermediates for the synthesis of drugs, herbicides, cosmetics, etc. [3]. They also find use as vulcanization accelerators and extraction agents. Fatty amines are involved in the synthesis of corrosion inhibitors and cationic surfactants, which are used in ore flotation processes and are good fabric softeners and antistatic agents [4—6],... 

Yellowing can occur with quaternary cationic softeners and this limits their use on white fabrics. This problem can be overcome to some extent, provided drying or fixation temperatures are not too high, using so-called pseudo-cationic softeners [482]. These products are analogous to the so-called weakly cationic surfactants described in section 9.5. 

DTDMAC was the first widely used cationic surfactant produced at the industrial scale since the 1960s. Its main application was as a fabric softening active agent. Due to its physico-chemical properties, largely determined by the positively charged head group and the long alkyl chains, it adsorbs onto fabrics and makes textiles feel soft. 

E. Matthijs, P. Gerike, H. Klotz, J.G.A. Kooijman, H.G. Karber and J. Waters, Removal and Mass Balance of the Cationic Fabric Softener Di(Hydrogenated)Tallow Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride in Activated Sludge Sewage Treatment Plants European Association of Surfactant Manufacturers (AIS/CESIO), Brussels, Belgium, 1992. 

Cationic surfactants are used widely as fabric softeners, anti-static agents, antiseptic components and as the main ingredients in rinse conditioner products. However, there is little data on their occurrence in wastewater and removal during wastewater treatment. The concentrations of some cationic surfactants and their biodegradation intermediates, found in WWTP influents and effluents, are listed in Table 6.1.3. 

Fabric softening Use cationic surfactants for their high substantivity on surfaces, especially negatively charged ones and the subsequent surface modification... 

Cationic surfactants are used in only limited tonnage for specially detergent products, such us metal cleaners for electroplating, and more commonly in ancillary textile laundering products for their fabric-softening, antistatic, and germicidal properties. A typical canonic surfactant would be tallow trimetbylammoniuin chloride ... 

Generally, the phase diagram of surfactants has a triple point at which the solid, the dissolved, and the micellar phase coexist. The temperature at this triple point is the Krafft temperature (Tk). For most surfactants, the TK is below ambient temperature and, therefore, their CMC can be regarded as their molecular solubility. Everything said above about the CMC therefore holds true for aqueous solubility. However, TK of the cationic surfactants used in fabric softeners is above ambient temperature. The same is true for the individual 2-n-(p-sulfophenyl)-alkanes which are constituents of LAS. 

Values of the solubility of surfactants in equilibrium with crystal phase rarely have been measured. In detergent mixtures, other surfactants present in the mixture solubilize the 2-n-(p-sulfophenyl)-alkanes and the fabric softener cationics. A mixing effect which reduces the CMC can explain this. 

Since, in the environment, surfactants always occur in mixtures, the less soluble constituents of the mixtures will be solubilized by the more soluble ones. Therefore one can expect that surfactants will occur in the environment as dissolved species. An exception might be the cationic surfactants used in fabric softeners. It has been speculatedthat one of the representatives (C18)2Me2N+ occurs in sewage sludge as its LAS salt (Huber, 1984). 

Giolando, S.T., R.A. Rapaport, R. J. Larson, T.W. Federle, M. Stalmans, and P. Mascheleyn. 1995. Environmental fate and effects of DEEDMAC a new rapidly degradable cationic surfactant for use in fabric softeners. Chemosphere 30, 1067-1083. 

Huber, L.H. 1984. Ecological behavior of cationic surfactants from fabric softeners in the aquatic environment. JAOCS 61, 377-381. 

Cationic surfactants have applications such as inhibiting the growth of bacteria, inhibiting corrosion, separating phosphate ore from silica and potassium chloride from sodium chloride (flotation agents), and they serve well as fabric softeners, antistatic agents, and hair conditioners. 

Fabric softeners are cationic surfactants and these are often added to the final rinse of the laundry and dispensed to the rinse water via a special compartment in the washing machine. How can a surfactant... 

Fabric softeners represent the single largest outlet for cationic surfactants consuming 200 000 metric tons per year in 1992 [19]. The basic structural requirement for a surfactant useful for fabric softening is the presence of two alkyl groups each with 12-18 carbon atoms and at least one positively charged hydrophile which, in commercial fabric softeners,... 

Formulations. In the typical fabric softening formula, the surfactant exists in a vesicular structure and the number of bilayers is a function of the concentration of the cationic surfactant in the solution [48]. The quality of dispersion influences the softening observed on the fabric. A poor dispersion leads to an uneven coating of softener on the fabric and insufficient deposition [46]. Cationic surfactants which do not readily form stable vesicular structures can be made stable by the inclusion of appropriate stabilizers which include ethoxylated... 

Developments in this application of cationic surfactants follow the developments in the fabric softener field since traditionally fabric softener surfactants have been employed in hair conditioners. The use of ester-based cationics is drawing attention [68]. Again, the selection of the hydrophobe is seen to control the performance of the cationic surfactant. The conditioning performance of the ester-based cationic is excellent and, additionally, improved static control is demonstrated. This is potentially due to the improved hydration of the hair follicle as a consequence of the more polar nature of the ester-based cationics. 

Cationic surfactants tend to be specialty items that are tailored for diverse uses such as germicides, textile applications, corrosion inhibitors, and fabric softeners. Their primary growth has been in fabric softeners for home laundry detergents. Because cationics are antistatic agents, they perform well in removing static charges associated with synthetic fabrics. 

STEPANTEX 6530B is a cationic surfactant of quaternary ammonium salt type, having properties which are especially well adapted to the formulation of fabric softeners. STEPANTEX 6530B has been developed for making household fabric softeners with average or high active concentrations. 

Cationic surfactants are mainly employed for the purpose of achieving certain special effects, which include applications in rinse-cycle fabric softeners, antistatic agents, and microbicides [4]. 

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