Charge and Size Matters – How to Formulate Organomodified Siloxanes for Textile Applications

Publication date: Available online 29 September 2018Source: Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering AspectsAuthor(s): Abhijeet Kumar, Alexandra Trambitas, Jörg Peggau, Verena Dahl, Joachim Venzmer, Tatiana Gambaryan-Roisman, Jochen KleinenABSTRACTOrganomodified siloxanes (OMS), which conventionally find use in textile finishing processes, have recently become a very interesting prospect in the field of fabric softeners. Here, we present OMS-based fabric softener formulations in the form of classical emulsion (droplet size ≈ 0.1 µm – 10 µm) and microemulsions (droplet size ≈ 5 nm - 50 nm) using nonionic surfactants (NIS) as emulsifier. Streaming potential measurements are used to obtain a measure of droplet surface charge, and it was found to be related to the ratio of masses of OMS and NIS present in the formulations. In this work, it is investigated how the performance of these formulations is influenced by properties such as droplet size and streaming potential. Panel tests were carried out to evaluate the sensory properties of fabric treated by these formulations, and they reveal that the classical emulsion performs better than the microemulsions. For the microemulsions, it is found that softening performance increases with streaming potential. The observed trends in softening performance are explained by considering the difference in location or penetration of softening actives on or into fabric. Two different experimental approaches ...

Source: Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects - October 6, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research