German:
Tenside
Spanish:
tensioactivos
French:
tensides (tensioactifs)
Italian:
tensioattivi (surfatanti)
Russian:
поверхностно-активные веществa (сурфактанты)
Arabic:
مؤثر سطحي
Chinese:
表面活性剂
Japanese:
界面活性剤 (かいめんかっせいざい)
General overview of surfactants
Surfactants are generally organic compounds that are primarily needed to improve the properties of aqueous formulations, such as detergents, foaming agents, thickeners, or fragrances. Surfactants lower the surface tension of a liquid or the interfacial tension between two different phases. Therefore, they can act as dispersants or solubilizers. Their mole¬cules are amphiphilic, i.e. they have a hydrophilic side, which reacts with water, and a lipophilic side that reacts with grease. This is why surfactants allow for the mixing of substances which can otherwise not be mixed. Only small amounts are needed to achieve a surfactant effect.
Apart from cleaning agents, cosmetics, and foodstuffs, surfactants are used in nume¬rous industrial applications, for example in agricultural chemicals, fire extinguishers, in building and construction, ore preparation, textile processing, paper recycling, and lubricants. In the field of biotechnology, surfactants are used to denature proteins.
Soaps (fatty acid salt) are the oldest surfactants. Nowadays, mostly synthetic surfac¬tants are used. They are made from crude oil materials, such as benzene, olefins, or ethylene oxide, and adapted to individual purposes. Surfactants can also be produced from renewable resources like sugar compounds, soya, and animal and vegetable greases. Organic surfactants can be used in the same fields of application as petrochemical surfactants, but they are almost exclusively used in cosmetics due to their higher price. Since they are better biodegradable, they can open up new application areas, such as ecological restoration after oil pollution.
All in all, there are about 10,000 different surfactants and surfactant mixtures which each have special properties. Surfactants are usually classified according to their composition or the charged groups in the head. There are four main groups:
- anionic surfactants bind dirt, but are quickly repelled by the surface,
- non-ionic surfactants are particularly fat-binding,
- cationic surfactants are mostly used in fabric softeners,
- amphoteric surfactants are often needed as co-surfactants to support other surfactants.
Comprehensive information on surfactants - their characteristics, application areas, market data, and environmental aspects - can be found in Market Study: Surfactants, by Ceresana Research.
Important surfactants:
Linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS)
Synonym:
branched alkylbenzene sulfonates (BAS)
German:
Lineare Alkylbenzolsulfonate
Spanish:
sulfonatos de alquilbenceno lineal
French:
sulfonates d'alkylbenzènes linéaires
Italian:
alchilbenzene sulfonato lineare
Russian:
линейный сульфонат алкилбензола
Arabic:
الألكيل بنزين الخطي سلفونات
Chinese:
线性烷基苯磺酸盐
Japanese:
二酸化チタン
Basic information on LAS (C10):
Formula: C16H25NaO3S
CAS-Nr.: 1322-98-1
ESIS entry: 215-347-5 (EINECS)
Sulfonates are salts and esters of sulfonic acid. Due to their good price-performance ratio, linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS) are the most produced surfactants worldwide. They are used in laundry detergents, body care products, numerous industrial cleaning agents, as wetting agents, antistatics, and emulsifiers, and as additives in soldering agents or galvanic baths. LAS are good foaming agents and can easily be controlled by foam inhibitors. LAS are biodegradable and are, for the most part, eliminated by conventional wastewater treatment plants. However, they cannot be eliminated as good as fatty alcohol sulfates, fatty alcohol ethoxylates, or soap.
Comprehensive information on production and consumption of LAS and other anionic surfactants are found in Market Study: Surfactants from Ceresana Research.
Manufacturers of LAS:
(->for more information see Market Study: Surfactants from Ceresana Research)
Synonyme:
nonoxynols, NPEO
German:
Nonylphenolethoxylate
Spanish:
nonilfenol etoxilado, nonoxynols
French:
éthoxylates de nonylphénol
Italian:
etossilati di nonilfenolo
Russian:
неонол
Arabic:
نونيل الإيثوكسيلات
Chinese:
壬基酚聚氧乙烯醚
Japanese:
ノニルフェノールエトキシレート
Basic information on NPE:
Formula: C19H32O3
CAS-Nr.: 9016-45-9
ESIS-Eintrag: 500-024-6
Polyoxyethylene glycol alkylphenol ethers (nonoxynols) are by far the commercially most important alkylphenolethoxylates (APE, APEO). They may be used as cleaning agents, emulsifiers, wetting agents, or foam inhibitors. They are the cleaning agent substances which pull away the grime. Industrial fields of application include paper and textile production, paints, resins, adhesives, and coatings. Nonylphenolethoxyla¬tes are hardly biodegradable and hormonally active substances. Since 1986, their use has been restricted in Europe through voluntary self obligation of the industry because they are toxic for many water animals. They have been limited by law since 2003 (directive 2003/53/EC). Large companies in the U.S have begun to ban NPE and APE in 2006. Less problematic alcohol ethoxylates, e.g. based on propylheptanol, or oleo based soya or palm oil products, serve as substitution products in cleaning agents and body care products.
Market Study: Surfactants from Ceresana Research offers comprehensive informa¬tion on the production, consumption, and price development of surfactants, divided among the different world regions.
Manufacturers of NPE:
(-> for more information see Market Study: Surfactants from Ceresana Research)
Last revision: 09 July 11
