What are the common anionic surfactants?
Anionic surfactants are the category of surfactants with the longest development history, the largest output, the widest variety, and the most extensive applications. They are the main active components in personal care products such as shampoos, shower gels, and hand soaps, as well as in household cleaning products like dishwashing liquids and liquid detergents, and they also have broad industrial applications.
Let's follow Qinxiang New Materials to exploreSulfonated Anionic SurfactantsWhat types are there?
- Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonic Acid (LAS)
Linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acid is produced by sulfonation and hydrolysis of linear alkylbenzene.
Advantages: strong foaming power, high detergency, easy formulation with various auxiliaries, relatively low cost, mature synthesis process, and wide application fields. It shows significant detergency against particulate, proteinaceous, and oily soils, particularly excelling at washing particulate soils on natural fibers. It is widely recognized as an outstanding anionic surfactant and has consistently held a high market share in the surfactant market. Disadvantages: first, its poor resistance to hard water leads to decreased detergency as water hardness increases, so detergents using it as the primary active ingredient must be formulated with an appropriate amount of anti-hard water additives; second, its strong degreasing power can cause some skin irritation during hand washing and leaves clothes feeling rough after washing.
- Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (AES)
Sodium lauryl ether sulfate is produced from fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO) through sulfation and neutralization.
Advantages: it combines certain characteristics of both nonionic and anionic surfactants, with solubility, resistance to hard water, foaming ability, and wetting power all superior to alkyl sulfates, and low irritation, making it the second largest anionic surfactant by output afterLAS.
- Sodium Alpha-Olefin Sulfonate (AOS)
Sodium alpha-olefin sulfonate is a type ofanionic surfactantobtained through SO3 sulfonation, neutralization, and hydrolysis of alpha-olefins. It is another surfactant that has emerged after LAS and AES for large-scale production and application.
Advantages: it offers good foaming properties, resistance to hard water, and biodegradability, making it an ideal raw material suitable for daily-use detergents and personal care products such as laundry powders, composite soaps, laundry liquids, dishwashing detergents, shampoos, and shower gels.
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (AS)
Sodium lauryl sulfate (AS) is produced by directly sulfating fatty alcohol (C12-14 alcohol) with sulfur trioxide and then neutralizing with alkali. Its sodium salt is mainly used as a foaming agent in toothpaste, and a portion is also blended with AES and other surfactants in various detergent formulations, with some industrial uses as well.
Advantages: natural and rapidly biodegradable, meeting today's global environmental requirements.
- Ammonium Alcohol (Ether) Sulfate (abbreviated as ammonium salt,AESA, LSA)
ItspH value is very close to that of skin, making it particularly suitable for formulating mid-to-high-end shampoos. It can also be used in liquid detergent formulations such as facial cleansers, body washes, and hand soaps, and is the preferred raw material for low-irritation products.
Advantages: rich and fine foam, mild to skin, low irritation, good viscosity adjustability, etc.
- Sodium fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate (MES)
Sodium fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate can be produced from fatty acid methyl ester (ME) through processes such as sulfonation, re-esterification, and neutralization.
Advantages: uses natural oils and fats as raw materials, aligning with green and environmental protection requirements and the overall development trend. It is a new type of surfactant with excellent performance and broad prospects.
- Fatty acid methyl ester ethoxylated sulfonate (FMES)
Fatty acid methyl ester ethoxylated sulfonate is obtained by sulfonating and neutralizing fatty acid methyl ester ethoxylate (FMEE).
Advantages: better hard water resistance thananionic products such as LAS and AOS, with good detergency, degreasing ability, and dispersibility. It has the highest detergency among anionic products, and it remains a flowable liquid without solidifying in winter. Disadvantages: relatively poor foaming and thickening properties..
Aboutthe common anionic surfactants, the above is a related introduction compiled by Qinxiang New Materials. For assistance, please feel free to contact us.~