Ethoxylated surfactants ethylene oxide block copolymers

Ethylene oxide is an important intermediate chemical not only for the production of nonionic surfactants like fatty alcohol ethoxylates, alkylphenol ethoxy lates, or propylene oxide/ethylene oxide block copolymers, but also for manufacturing of anionic surfactants like alcohol ether sulfates. 

The second class includes polyethylene glycol alkyl esters, ethoxylated linear aliphatic alcohols, ethoxylated natural fatty acids and oils, and alkanolamides. These products, together with ethylene oxide block copolymers with propylene oxide, form a class of ethoxylate surfactants that are biodegradable. Linear alcohol ethoxylates find extensive use in heavy-duty laundry detergents. 

The most extensive group of ether surfactants is that of polyethoxylated long-chain alcohols and related ethoxylated products considered, in view of their practical importance, in a separate section. Other ether nonionics of importance are polypropylene glycols, propoxylated alcohols, block-copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, block-copolymers of ethylene oxide and butylene oxide [8, 16-20], block-copolymers having a hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane moiety [19, 21], as well as alkyl polyglycerides, alkyl polyglycosides, derivatives of maltose and other saccarides. 

This method is optimized to determine the length of the poly(ethylene oxide) chain in, for example, an ethoxylated alcohol surfactant (11,12). It is also applicable to determination of oxypropylene content and to analysis of other products, such as EO/PO block copolymers (13,14). Quantitative results are not obtained from analysis of alkoxylated amines due to incomplete cleavage of the ethoxy group adjacent to the nitrogen. 

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