Surfactant applications Agricultural formulations

SURFADONE LP surfactants are unique, multifunctional nonionic surfactants. Both of these surfactants combine the ability to complex many polar materials with excellent wetting, surface tension reduction and solvency. Applications include personal care, specialty cleaner and agricultural formulations. 

Numerous herbicides are currently recommended and used for weed control in agricultural, industrial, and recreational areas. However, the method of formulation and application of such chemicals to plants or soils may markedly affect their biological efficacy and persistence. Chemical additives (primarily surfactants) in both oil and aqueous sprays are already used widely, and when properly understood, promise a virtual revolution in the use of agricultural chemicals. Conceivably, not only weed control performance and herbicidal selectivity can be altered but also distribution, metabolism, and accumulation of chemical residues. With the widespread introduction and increasing use of chemical additives in weed science and technology, we must therefore learn to reflect on what before we knew about the use of herbicides. 

Surfactants based on aliphatic alcohols are used as cleaners in both domestic and industrial applications. They provide excellent properties such as wetting, dispersion, and emulsification. The ethoxylates derived from alkylphenols are chemically stable and highly versatile, finding more use in industrial practice than in domestic applications. They are used both as processing aids and as components in various products. Their applications include metal cleaning, hospital cleaners and disinfectants, agricultural chemical formulation surfactants, insecticides and herbicides, oil-well drilling fluids, and many others. 

Other applications of alcohol alkoxylates also include textile lubricants, agricultural chemicals, rinse aid formulations, and personal care products. Polyoxyethylene block copolymers exhibit properties similar to surfactants, such as the presence of micelles in aqueous solutions, micelle structure, and association number, and are therefore termed polymeric surfactants. These diverse subsets of nonionic surfactants are unique and offer several advantages in manufacturing, and they could be designed for specific uses and applications. A complete Surfactant Science Series volume dedicated to the chemistry, physicochemical properties, applications, and toxicity was published in 1996. Because of these beneficial attributes, alcohol ethoxylates and alcohol alkoxylates are the most important nonionic surfactants in terms of volume usage in consumer products. 

This fifth part of the multi-volume Handbook of Detergents deals with the various multidimensional aspects and implications of the application of detergent formulations and/or surfactants domestically, institutionally, in industry, agriculture and environmental contamination problems. Thus, Part E constitutes a comprehensive treatise of the multidimensional issues involved, specifically emphasizing the alignment of scientific knowledge and well-established technological and technical know-how with the relevant contemporary applied practice. 

Surfactants play an important role in the textile, paper, food and other industries. Their applications range from detergent formulations and dispersing agents to softeners and agricultural products. Most products are readily biodegradable (Huddleston and Allred, 1967) however, they impact aquatic life if not correctly treated because they affect the surface tension of water. In typical textile operations they are applied in relatively small amounts. Therefore, reclamation efforts have been limited and little has been published in this field. 

Nonionic, nonfoaming surfactants which provide excellent wetting in aqueous systems. In agricultural applications, these products promote stable dispersions and reduce static in wettable powders. The material has a rapid rate of dissolution which allows rewetting in certain applications such as agricultural chemicals. SURFYNOL 82 surfactant also reduces viscosity in vinyl plastisols and water-based formulations. SURFYNOL 82S surfactant is SURFYNOL 82 surfactant as a free-flowing powder. 

The ALKAMULS AG surfactants are proprietary blends developed for use in agricultural applications. The ALKAMULS AG series is appropriate for use in herbicide, pesticide and fungicide formulations, and is suitable for the development of both concentrates and wettable powders. Residues of these surfactants are exempt from tolerance requirements under EPA Regulation 40 CFR 180 1001(d) when used in accordance with good agricultural practice as inert ingredients in formulations developed for growing crops. 

Elsik, C. M., Perdreau, L., RoUinson, M. and Diu, M. L., Agricultural AppUcations of Structured Surfactant Formulations, Pesticide Formulations and Application Systems 23 International Symposium, ASTM STP 1449, G. Volgas, R Downer, and H. Lopez, Eds., ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2003. 

Coformulants are defined as any material other than the active ingredient which is added to a pesticidal active ingredient prior to packaging for sale to an end-user. This category includes all the items commonly employed by formulations chemists - solvents, solid diluents and carriers, surfactants, dyes, and aerosol propellants. Minerals in agricultural chemical applications will invariably be used as coformulants and not as adjuvants. 

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