Nonionic surfactants alcohols

Anon. (1991) Environmental and Human Safety of Major Surfactants. Volume 1 Anionic Surfactants. Part 1. Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates. Part 2. Alcohol Ethyl Sulfates. Part 3. Alkyl Sulfates. Part 4. Alpha Olgin Sulfonates. Volume 2 Nonionic Surfactants, Alcohol Ethoxylates and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates. Government Reports Announcements Index (GRA I). 

Several other mechanisms have been proposed to explain the dynamics of spontaneous emulsification. Direct observation by using phase contrast and polarizing microscopy showed that in some cases vesicles (closed bilayers) are produced in the oil phase near the interface with the water. These vesicles tend to explode , thereby pulverizing oil droplets into the aqueous phase. The above structures can be produced, for example, by using a mixture of nonionic surfactant (alcohol ethoxylate) and a long-chain alcohol such... 

Fig. XIV-16. A photomicrograph of a two-dimensional foam of a commercial ethox-ylated alcohol nonionic surfactant solution containing emulsified octane in which the oil drops have drained from the foam films into the Plateau borders. (From Ref. 234.)...

Solvents. The most widely used solvent is deionized water primarily because it is cheap and readily available. Other solvents include ethanol, propjdene glycol or butylene glycol, sorbitol, and ethoxylated nonionic surfactants. There is a trend in styling products toward alcohol-free formulas. This may have consumer appeal, but limits the formulator to using water-soluble polymers, and requires additional solvents to solubilize the fragrance and higher levels of preservatives. 

Many different types of foaming agents are used, but nonionic surfactants are the most common, eg, ethoxylated fatty alcohols, fatty acid alkanolamides, fatty amine oxides, nonylphenol ethoxylates, and octylphenol ethoxylates, to name a few (see Alkylphenols). Anionic surfactants can be used, but with caution, due to potential complexing with cationic polymers commonly used in mousses. 

Three generations of latices as characterized by the type of surfactant used in manufacture have been defined (53). The first generation includes latices made with conventional (/) anionic surfactants like fatty acid soaps, alkyl carboxylates, alkyl sulfates, and alkyl sulfonates (54) (2) nonionic surfactants like poly(ethylene oxide) or poly(vinyl alcohol) used to improve freeze—thaw and shear stabiUty and (J) cationic surfactants like amines, nitriles, and other nitrogen bases, rarely used because of incompatibiUty problems. Portiand cement latex modifiers are one example where cationic surfactants are used. Anionic surfactants yield smaller particles than nonionic surfactants (55). Often a combination of anionic surfactants or anionic and nonionic surfactants are used to provide improved stabiUty. The stabilizing abiUty of anionic fatty acid soaps diminishes at lower pH as the soaps revert to their acids. First-generation latices also suffer from the presence of soap on the polymer particles at the end of the polymerization. Steam and vacuum stripping methods are often used to remove the soap and unreacted monomer from the final product (56). 

In the 1990s, the thmst of surfactant flooding work has been to develop surfactants which provide low interfacial tensions in saline media, particularly seawater require less cosurfactant are effective at low concentrations and exhibit lower adsorption on rock. Nonionic surfactants such as alcohol ethoxylates, alkylphenol ethoxylates (215) and propoxylates (216), and alcohol propoxylates (216) have been evaluated for this appHcation. More recently, anionic surfactants have been used (216—230). 

Anionic surfactants are the most commonly used class of surfactant. Anionic surfactants include sulfates such as sodium alkylsulfate and the homologous ethoxylated versions and sulfonates, eg, sodium alkylglycerol ether sulfonate and sodium cocoyl isethionate. Nonionic surfactants are commonly used at low levels ( 1 2%) to reduce soap scum formation of the product, especially in hard water. These nonionic surfactants are usually ethoxylated fatty materials, such as H0CH2CH20(CH2CH20) R. These are commonly based on triglycerides or fatty alcohols. Amphoteric surfactants, such as cocamidopropyl betaine and cocoamphoacetate, are more recent surfactants in the bar soap area and are typically used at low levels (<2%) as secondary surfactants. These materials can have a dramatic impact on both the lathering and mildness of products (26). 

Nonionic surfactants are often characterized ia terms of their hydrophi1 e—1 ipophi1 e balance (HLB) number (see Emulsions). For simple alcohol... 

Poly(vinyl acetate) emulsions can be made with a surfactant alone or with a protective coUoid alone, but the usual practice is to use a combination of the two. Normally, up to 3 wt % stabilizers may be included in the recipe, but when water sensitivity or tack of the wet film is desired, as in some adhesives, more may be included. The most commonly used surfactants are the anionic sulfates and sulfonates, but cationic emulsifiers and nonionics are also suitable. Indeed, some emulsion compounding formulas require the use of cationic or nonionic surfactants for stable formulations. The most commonly used protective coUoids are poly(vinyl alcohol) and hydroxyethyl cellulose, but there are many others, natural and synthetic, which are usable if not preferable for a given appHcation. 

Mouthwashes are hydro-alcohoHc preparations in which flavorants, essential oils (see Oils, essential), and other agents are combined to provide long-term breath deodorization. PalatabiHty can be improved by including a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin or sorbitol (see Alcohols, polyhydric). Occasionally, anionic and nonionic surfactants are used to help solubiHze flavorants and to help remove debris and bacteria from the mouth. 

Nonionic Surface-Active Agents. Approximately 14% of the ethyleae oxide consumed ia the United States is used in the manufacture of nonionic surfactants. These are derived by addition of ethylene oxide to fatty alcohols, alkylphenols (qv), tall oil, alkyl mercaptans, and various polyols such as poly(propylene glycol), sorbitol, mannitol, and cellulose. They are used in household detergent formulations, industrial surfactant appHcations, in emulsion polymeri2ation, textiles, paper manufacturing and recycling, and for many other appHcations (281). 

Stearyl alcohol is a nonionic surfactant used as a hair coating in shampoos and conditioners. 

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. 

Subacute and chronic toxicity of alcohol and alcohol ether sulfates has been extensively tested in several animals and sometimes humans. The duration of the tests was in some cases as long as 2 years. When administered below the toxic amount no specific damages were observed in any of the species tested [333]. No severe side effects were observed in the study by Swisher, carried out with volunteers who ingested considerable amounts of anionic and nonionic surfactants over long periods [348]. Similarly, the effects produced by the intake of daily doses of 1 g of alcohol sulfate per person over 8 weeks [349],... 

Surfactants employed for w/o-ME formation, listed in Table 1, are more lipophilic than those employed in aqueous systems, e.g., for micelles or oil-in-water emulsions, having a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value of around 8-11 [4-40]. The most commonly employed surfactant for w/o-ME formation is Aerosol-OT, or AOT [sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate], containing an anionic sulfonate headgroup and two hydrocarbon tails. Common cationic surfactants, such as cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and trioctylmethyl ammonium bromide (TOMAC), have also fulfilled this purpose however, cosurfactants (e.g., fatty alcohols, such as 1-butanol or 1-octanol) must be added for a monophasic w/o-ME (Winsor IV) system to occur. Nonionic and mixed ionic-nonionic surfactant systems have received a great deal of attention recently because they are more biocompatible and they promote less inactivation of biomolecules compared to ionic surfactants. Surfactants with two or more hydrophobic tail groups of different lengths frequently form w/o-MEs more readily than one-tailed surfactants without the requirement of cosurfactant, perhaps because of their wedge-shaped molecular structure [17,41]. 

SEC-RI/UV has also been used to analyse some 26 thioorganotin compounds, organotin carboxylates and chlorides, essentially PVC stabilisers, and some of their main by-products and related compounds (thioesters and dithioesters, n-alkanes) [803]. Not all organotin chlorides were stable in the adopted analysis conditions. N, Ai -ethylene-bis-stearamide and -oleamide in common plastics (ABS, SAN, PUR, LDPE, PA6.6) can be analysed by SEC after derivatisation with trifluo-roacetic anhydride. SEC analysis of fatty alcohol ethoxy-lates (FAE), used as nonionic surfactants, has also been described [759]. 

There is no molecular interaction between nonionic surfactants with an ethylene-oxide chain, i.e. Genapol and ethoxylated nonylphenols. Indeed, research by Nishikido (6) on polyoxyethylene laurylethers (5 < E.O. number < 49) has shown the ideal behavior (p12 = 0) of their mixtures. Likewise, Xia (7) has found very low p12 values for mixtures of ethoxylated fatty alcohols. 

NPE was previously used extensively as nonionic surfactants and emulsifiers in both the textile and the leather industry but has now been replaced by alternative surfactants in Europe. The main alternatives in the leather industry are linear alcohol ethoxylates with different chain lengths and ethoxylation degrees. These compounds are much easier than NPE degraded to non-toxic compounds. The efficiency of linear alcohol ethoxylates as degreasing agents is comparable to that of NPE. 

Fatty alcohol and fatty acid ethoxylates are amphiphilic compounds that are commonly used as nonionic surfactants and emulsifiers in many applications, such as cosmetic and care products and in textile fabrication. They serve as antistatic lubricants and viscosity regulators. 

Trathnigg, B., Kollroser, M., Rappel, C. (2001). Liquid exclusion adsorption chromatography, a new technique for isocratic separation of nonionic surfactants. III. Two-dimensional separation of fatty alcohol ethoxylates. J. Chromatogr. A 922(1-2), 193-205. 

Nowadays these compounds are usually blended with other surfactants, including nonionic types (section 9.6). In 1990 a typical low- or non-phosphate domestic detergent contained 7% linear alkylbenzenesulphonate and 6% nonionic fatty alcohol ethoxylate [16]. There is increasing use of the long-chain fatty alcohol poly(oxyethylene) sulphates previously described (e.g. 9.12) as a partial or complete replacement for linear alkylbenzenesulphonates [15] since they are made from renewable feedstocks such as tallow and palm oil [16]. 

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