Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
Patent
1998-07-30
2000-04-11
Kopec, Mark
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
510337, 510351, 510353, 510356, 510357, 510358, 510405, 510421, 510425, 510426, 510492, 510506, 510537, 134 42, C11D 1722, C11D 114, C11D 116
Patent
active
06048831&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a surfactant composition, more specifically a surfactant composition useful as the liquid detergent for clothes which comprises a specific nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant and which exhibits a low viscosity even when mixed with water in a high surfactant concentration, and is therefore excellent in handleability.
BACKGROUND ART
Polyoxyethylene-base nonionic surfactants have high detergency and can also be used favorably in a state combined with other ionic surfactant, so that various combinations thereof with other surfactants have been proposed. In particular, many surfactant compositions comprising such nonionic surfactants and anionic surfactants have been disclosed owing to their excellent detergency. Such surfactant compositions are used mainly as detergent in a state diluted with a diluent such as water.
It is well known that when a nonionic or anionic surfactant is mixed with water in a high concentration, the resulting mixture exhibits a viscosity higher than that of the surfactant itself by ten or more times. In particular, when an anionic surfactant is mixed with water, the resulting mixture exhibits remarkably high viscosity over a wide concentration range to result in difficult handling. Therefore, an anionic surfactant is generally handled as a low-concentration aqueous solution. Economically, it is desirable that a detergent containing a surfactant is free from extra liquid components as far as possible. However, the concentration of a detergent containing an anionic surfactant for useful handling is limited up to about 30 wt %. A composition having a concentration of 50 wt. % or above could little be lowered in the viscosity even by the addition of a diluent such as water, being difficult to handle by the use of a conventional container such as a can or a drum.
In order to solve such a problem, aliphatic alcohols and adducts thereof with alkylene oxides have been proposed in JP-B-6-76594 as viscosity modifier. However, an aqueous surfactant solution containing such an alcohol or adduct still exhibits a viscosity of the order of 10000 cP at 70.degree. C., not permitting easy handling at ordinary temperatures. Further, JP-A-53-58508 has proposed a liquid detergent excellent in fluidity which comprises a polyoxypropylene polyoxyethylene alkyl ether and a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether sulfate, but is silent on the viscosity of the detergent in a high concentration range. Further, an attempt was made to lower the viscosity by the addition of a solubilizing agent. Although the addition of a solubilizing agent gives a remarkable viscosity reducing effect, the addition of some solubilizing agent in a large amount is liable to bring about flammability unfavorably.
Further, EP-A 58139 discloses the treatment of a fabric with both (A) an anionic surfactant and (B) a nonionic block copolymer comprising ethylene oxide units and propylene oxide units, but is silent on the behavior of high-concentration compositions thereof.
As described above, there has not been found as yet any surfactant composition which contains an anionic surfactant and exhibits excellent handleability even in a high surfactant concentration range. Under these circumstance, it has been expected to develop a high-concentration surfactant composition which contains an anionic surfactant and is easily handleable at room temperature.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a low-viscosity surfactant composition which contains an anionic surfactant and which is excellent in handleability even in a high surfactant concentration range and is easily handleable at room temperature.
The inventors of the present invention have intensively studied to develop a high-concentration surfactant composition containing an anionic surfactant and have found that a surfactant composition which can exhibit a low viscosity even in a high surfactant concentration range can be obtained by using a polyalkylene glycol-base nonionic surfactant specified in the mod
REFERENCES:
patent: 4408995 (1983-10-01), Guth et al.
patent: 4495092 (1985-01-01), Schmid et al.
Ishii Yasuo
Mori Atsuhito
Sawada Hiroki
Kao Corporation
Kopec Mark
Mruk Brian P.
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