Performance and Efficiency of Anionic Dishwashing Liquids with Amphoteric and Nonionic Surfactants

Abstract

Performance and efficiency of anionic [sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) and sodium alpha-olefin sulfonate (AOS)] and amphoteric [cocamidopropyl betaine (CAB)] as well as nonionic [cocodiethanol amide (DEA), various ethoxylated alcohols (C-12-C-15-7EO, C-10-7EO and C-9-C-11-7EO) and lauramine oxide (AO)] surfactants in various dishwashing liquid mixed micelle systems have been studied at different temperatures (17.0, 23.0 and 42.0 degrees C). The investigated parameters were critical micelle concentration (CMC), surface tension (gamma), cleaning performance and, foaming, biodegradability and irritability of anionic (SLES/AOS) and anionic/amphoteric/nonionic (SLES/AOS/CAB/AO) as well as anionic/nonionic (SLES/AOS/DEA/AO, SLES/AOS/C-12-C-15-7EO/AO, SLES/AOS/C-10-7EO/AO and SLES/AOS/C-9-C-11-7EO/AO) dishwashing surfactant mixtures. In comparison to the starting binary SLES/AOS surfactant mixture, addition of various nonionic surfactants promoted CMC and gamma lowering, enhanced cleaning performance and foaming, but did not significantly affect biodegradability and irritability of dishwashing formulations. The anionic/nonionic formulation SLES/AOS/C-9-C-11-7EO/AO shows both the lowest CMC and gamma as well as the best cleaning performance, compared to the other examined dishwashing formulations. However, the results in this study reveal that synergistic behavior of anionic/nonionic SLES/AOS/ethoxylated alcohols/AO formulations significantly improves dishwashing performance and efficiency at both low and regular dishwashing temperatures (17.0 and 42.0 degrees C) and lead to better application properties.