Manufacture High Quality Polyurethane and Other Products for Industrial, Cosmetic and Automotive Use from Ethoxylate Compounds

Ethoxylate productsare manufactured by adding ethylene oxides to phenols and alcohols. Ethoxylateproducts have numerous applications and are commonly referred to assurfactants.

Production of ethoxylateproducts

• Ethoxylates are made throughethoxylation process. In this process, glycerol, fatty acids and amines such asfatty amines, tallow amines, coco amine, oleyl amine and stearyl amine are madeto react with ethylene oxide. The ethoxylation process occurs in the presenceof potassium hydroxide catalysts which increases the speed of the reaction.

• Fatty amines are prepared bydistilling fatty acids and are nitrogen derivatives of fatty acids. Amines canalso be prepared by reacting ammonia with fatty alcohols. 

• Gyclerine ethoxylate productsare manufactured by reacting glycerin with ethylene oxide.

• The amount of ethylene oxideadded to amines and other compounds affect the chemical properties such asemulsification, surface tension and ability to dissolve in other solvents.  The ability to control most of the propertiesmakes ethoxylate compounds applicable in many industrial processes.

Chemical properties ofethoxylate products

Different ethoxylate orsurfactants have varying physical and chemical properties. One characteristicof surfactants is that they are hydrophilic and hydrophobic. In presence ofwater, surfactants particles move to the air water boundary while in water oilmixture, these particles move to the oil water boundaries.

Uses of ethoxylateproducts

• Ethoxylate products are widelyused as detergents, shampoos, foaming and cleaning agents. These chemicals areable to mix with both water and oil making it a excellent cleaning agent.

• Ethoxylate are also widely usedin emulsifiers as they cause unmixable liquids such as oil and water to mix.Surfactants migrate to the water oil boundary which enhances the mixingprocess.

• Oleyl amines ethoxylate are antistatic andquickly disperse making them ideal cleaning agents. They are mostly used fortextile coating due to their high affinity for surfaces. Amines are also widelyused to manufacture soap, leather dressing and candles.

• Ethoxylate are also widely usedin the pharmaceuticals industry to promote the absorption of drugs into thebody. Polyethylene glycol is widely applied in drugs where it prevents theimmune systems from attacking proteins.

• These products are also used inpesticides and herbicides to increase their solubility.

• Glycerin ethoxylate producelubricants and surfactants used to manufacture cosmetics. The esterificationprocess makes them sweet smelling and are therefore ideal for the cosmeticindustry. They are also reacted with isocyanates to manufacture polyurethaneproducts which manufacture foam and other products used in making noisereduction foam, car seats and ultra high quality cushions.

Current trends in use ofethoxylate

The use of ethoxylate products have been on the rise due to theirexcellent solubility and ability to mix with both water and oil basedchemicals. The utilization of these products is in order of billions ofgallons.

Conclusions

Ethoxylate products have solubility in different medium. Theseproducts are used to manufacture soaps, detergents and other cleaning agents.They are also used to form emulsions comprising of water and oil basedproducts. These emulsions enhance solubility and dispersion of pharmaceuticals,herbicides, pesticides and paints.

This article has been written by Govind Patel.