In aqueous solutions surfactants behave like organic compounds that are amphiphilic, meaning they contain both hydrophobic groups (their tails) and hydrophilic groups (their heads). The arrangement of the hydrophilic head is at the interface of water and the hydrophobic groups aligns toward oil. Therefore, a surfactant contains both a water-insoluble (or oil-soluble) component and a water-soluble component. Surfactants will diffuse in water and adsorb at interfaces between air and water or at the interface between oil and water, in the case where water is blended with oil. This property allows surfactants to act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants.
Many important surfactants include a polyether chain terminating in a polar anionic group. The polyether groups often comprise ethoxylated (polyethylene oxide-like) sequences inserted to increase the hydrophilic character of a surfactant. Polypropylene oxides conversely, may be inserted to increase the lipophilic character of a surfactant. Surfactant molecules have either one tail or two; those with two tails are said to be double-chained. Surfactant classification according to the composition of their head falls under nonionic, anionic, cationic, and amphoteric. A nonionic surfactant has no charged groups in its head. The head of an ionic surfactant carries a net positive, or negative charge. If the charge is negative, the surfactant is more specifically called anionic; if the charge is positive, it is called cationic. If a surfactant contains a head with two oppositely charged groups, it is termed zwitterionic. Zwitterionic or amphoteric surfactants have both cationic and anionic centers attached to the same molecule. we offer wide range of surfactants which are a large group of surface active substances particularly based on ethoxylates, alkoxylates, EO/PO Co-polymers with a very wide applications.
Normally most of the Surfactants have degreasing or wash active abilities. They reduce the surface tension of the water, it can wet the fibres and surfaces, they loosen and encapsulate the dirt and in that way ensure that the soiling will not re-deposit on the surfaces. Surfactants have a hydrophobic (water repellent) part and a hydrophilic (water loving) part. The hydrophobic part consists of an uncharged carbohydrate group that can be straight, branched, cyclic or aromatic like Alkyl Phenols, Fatty Alcohols, Fatty Amines, Fatty Acids, Glycerols, Castor Oils etc.
These surfactants have a wide application in detergent, textile, cosmetics, agro, paints and Coatings, leather, paper, water treatment, construction, oil, etc. industries.
Surfactants are the wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid ,allowing easier spreading and lower the interfacial tension between two liquids. Surfactants are also often classified into four primary groups i.e. anionic, cationic, non-ionic, and cryptoionic. We offer broad line of quality surfactants which are used in various industries like textile, leather, detergents, personal-care etc.
We provide surfactants for detergent, surfactants for textile, surfactants for cosmetics, surfactants for agro, surfactants for paints and Coatings, surfactants for leather, surfactants for paper, surfactants for water treatment, surfactants for construction, oil, surfactants for industries.
Nonionic surfactants
Nonionic surfactants have covalently bonded oxygen-containing hydrophilic groups, which are bonded to hydrophobic parent structures. These Nonionic surfactants, are not ionized in water, and contain both hydrophilic groups (e.g. oxyethylene-CH2CH2O-, ether groups, hydroxyl group -OH or -CONH2 amide group, etc.) and lipophilic group (e.g., hydrocarbons which can be natural fatty alcohols or synthetic alcohols, acids or glyceryl esters/oils). The water-solubility of the oxygen groups is the result of hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding decreases with increasing temperature, and the water solubility of Nonionic surfactants therefore decreases with increasing temperature. This result in formation of a milky/cloudy emulsion called the cloud point of surfactants. This property is very essential for determining the optimum use of Nonionic surfactant in formulations at elevated temperature especially in cleaning formulations like detergents, CIP etc.
As discussed above Nonionic surfactants have a unique property called a cloud point. The cloud point is the temperature at which the Nonionic surfactant begins to separate from the cleaning solution, called phase separation. When this occurs, the cleaning solution becomes cloudy. This cloud point is therefore considered the temperature for optimal detergency. For low foaming cleaners, optimal detergency is at the cloud point; for foaming cleaners optimal detergency is either just below the cloud point or at the start of the cloud point. The agitation of low foaming cleaners is sufficient to prevent phase separation. The temperature of the cloud point depends upon the ratio of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic portions of the Nonionic surfactant. Some cloud points are at room temperature while others are very high. Some Nonionic surfactants don't have a cloud point because they have a very high ratio of hydrophilic to hydrophobic moieties.
Nonionic surfactants are less sensitive to water hardness than anionic surfactants, and they foam less strongly. The differences between the individual types of Nonionic surfactants are slight, and the choice is primarily governed having regard to the costs of special properties (e.g., effectiveness and efficiency, toxicity, dermatological compatibility, biodegradability) or permission for use in food. In areas with hard water (high mineral content), Nonionic surfactants are more heavily marketed, as they are less likely to form a soap scum. The Nonionic surfactants are less likely to cause skin irritation, but this is associated with a less potent cleaning ability. Most cleaning products are manufactured as a blend of anionic and Nonionic surfactants to balance out the cleaning potential with the risk of skin irritation.
The aqueous solution of Nonionic surfactants has poor foaming capability with the foam being not stable as well. This is due to that each molecule of the Nonionic surfactant has relatively large surface area and the interface being in uncharged foam. Polyoxyethylene has long chain and uniform molecular weight distribution. The lipophilic group has long chain and also contains branched chain. The presence of the polyoxyethylene -polyoxypropylene copolymer both has a great impact on the foaming of the Nonionic surfactants. Owing to the presence of the polar portion and non-polar portions existing in their molecular structure, they have large surface activity. Such kind of active agents can be divided into the ester type (e.g. polyoxyethylene fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters anhydrides), ether type (e.g., polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkyl phenol ether), amine type (such as polyoxyethylene fatty amine), amide type (such as polyoxyethylene alkyl amide) and mixing type (such as sorbitol anhydride fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene ether). In the field of oiling, Nonionic surfactants are mainly used in foaming, emulsifying, anti-wax, anti-corrosion, retarder, production increase of oil wells, intensified injection of injection wells as well as improving oil recovery and so on.
Cationic surfactants are comprised of a positively charged head. Most of cationic surfactants find use as anti-microbials, anti-fungals, etc. in HI&I (Benzalkonium chloride (BKC-80 and BKC-50). The cationic nature of these surfactants disrupts the cell membranes of bacteria and viruses.
Zwitterionic (amphoteric) surfactants have both cationic and anionic centers attached to the same molecule. The anionic part can be variable and include sulfonates, as in the sultaines (Foamer HS). Betaines such as cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB, coco betaine) have a carboxylate with the ammonium. The cationic part is based on primary, secondary, or tertiary amines or quaternary ammonium cations. Zwitterionic surfactants are often sensitive to pH and will behave as anionic or cationic based on pH. Fast dry ("coacervation") latex traffic paints are based on this concept, with a drop in pH triggering the latex in the paint to coagulate.