For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, non-ionic surfactants having the general formula (V) were prepared wherein R is a mixture of C12 to C13 linear and branched alkyl with R1=H and R2=CH3 and CH2 CH3 and the index x was between 1 and 10, and y between 1 and 6 with z=1.
RO—[(CH2CHR1O)x(CH2CHR2O)y]z—H (V)
297 grams of C12 to C13 FT alcohol (SAFOL™ 23 alcohol) were placed in an auto-clave into which 3.9 grams of potassium hydroxide (50% in water) were charged. The autoclave was then heated to 150° C. under vacuum to dehydrate the reaction mixture. The temperature was then brought to 160° C., and 330 grams of ethylene oxide were slowly fed. At the end of the reaction of the ethylene oxide, when the pressure drop had been stabilized, 350 grams of propylene oxide were fed. At the end of the reaction the product was cooled to 80° C. and neutralized up to pH 6 with acetic acid.
Physical-chemical characteristics of alcohol-EO-POs of examples of the present invention prepared according to the above mentioned method are given in Table 1.
The cloud point was determined in butyl diglycol by using the method DIN EN 1890. This involved determining the temperature above which the solution turns cloudy. The lower the cloud temperature, the lower the foaming tendency.
The wetting power was determined at 20° C. by method DIN EN 1772. The wetting effect corresponds to the time taken for a cotton disk to sink in aqueous solution. The shorter the sinking time, the better the wetting efficiency.
The foaming power was determined at 40° C. under high pressure conditions with a 1 g/l active surfactant solution in a foam-test cabin. The test apparatus consists of a reservoir for the surfactant solution, a pump and a test cabin. The foam is generated by spraying the surfactant solution with pressure onto a wire netting (placed in the cabin) and the foam height in the cabin is determined by a graduation (in cm). In this test low-foaming alcohol-EO-POs from the market typically showed foam heights of 1 to 10 cm, regular alcohol ethoxylates with 7 moles EO produce foam heights of more than 20 cm.
In the following properties of the non-ionic surfactants of the present invention are compared to typical traditional surfactants based on a linear alcohol (Table 2).
Compared to the traditional linear C12 to C14 alcohol-5EO-4PO from the market the C12-C13-FT alcohol-5EO-4PO of the present invention had a better wetting performance.
Biodegradability tests carried out on C12 to C13 FT alcohol-2EO-4PO, C12-C13 FT alcohol-5EO-4PO and C12-C13 FT alcohol-5EO-6PO gave excellent results with respect to the total biodegradability, and the given products turned out to be readily biodegradable.
All three tested FT alcohol-EO-POs reached the pass level of 60% for ready biodegradability within the 10-day window:
C12-C13 FT alcohol+2EO+4PO reached 83% at the end of the 10-day window
C12-C13 FT alcohol+5EO+4PO reached 79% at the end of the 10-day window
C12-C13 FT alcohol+5EO+6PO reached 81% at the end of the 10-day window.
Therefore all three tested products can be termed “readily” biodegradable.
The biodegradation of the FT alcohol-EO-PO derivatives was compared with traditional alcohol-EO-POs (
Biodac® 40 is an alcohol EO-PO based on a linear Ziegler-alcohol, with an alkyl chain having 10 carbon atoms, ethoxylated with 4 moles of ethylene oxide and propoxylated with 2 mole of propylene oxide.
Isofol® 12-1PO-4EO is based on a branched Guerbet alcohol, with an allyl chain having 12 carbon atoms, propoxylated with 1 mole propylene oxide and then ethoxylated with 4 moles of ethylene oxide.
Compared to the C12-C13 FT alcohol-EO-POs of the present invention Biodac 40 and Isofol® 12-1PO-4EO showed a lower biodegradation level at the end of the 28 day period. Both Biodac® 40 and Isofol 12-1PO-4EO did not reach the 60% level for “ready” biodegradation:
Biodac® 40 reached 48% at the end of the 10-day window
Isofol® 12-1PO-4EO reached 42% at the end of the 10-day window.
Therefore both products do not fulfill the 10-day window criterium and are not classified as “ready” biodegradable.
Typical formulation examples to use the alcohol alkoxylates of this invention in machine dish wash powders and in liquid rinse aids with low-foaming characteristics are given in Table 3 (Dish washing detergents) and Table 4 (Rinse aids).
The given formulations showed a low-foaming characteristic when applied in dish-washing machines and a good cleaning and rinsing performance.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP04/02367 | 3/8/2004 | WO | 00 | 9/4/2007 |