Ionic type, how the family is made, the tests to name on an order, a typical duty, and where that family is not interchangeable with a neighbour. The wording matches the chemistry pages.
Select two or three families. The table lines up ionic type, how the grade is made, what to name on the order, and where the families are not interchangeable.
| Family | Acrylic Polymers | Alkoxylates | Amides | EO/PO Block Co-Polymers | Esters | Ethoxylates | Phosphate Esters | Propoxylates | Sulfosuccinates | Sulphates and Sulfonates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ionic type | Leather polymer, not a surfactant. | Non-ionic. | Non-ionic alkanolamides, and amphoteric betaines. | Non-ionic. | Non-ionic esters. | Non-ionic. | Anionic acid phosphates. | Non-ionic. | Mild anionic. | Anionic. |
| How it is made | Acrylic-maleic copolymers for wet-end fill, and acrylic or methacrylic binders for finishing. | Ethylene oxide, propylene oxide or both, on a fatty alcohol, alkyl phenol, fatty acid, fatty amine, natural oil or glycol. | Coconut, lauric, oleic or stearic acids with MEA, DEA or DMAPA. Grades include CMEA, CDEA, ethoxylated CMEA, PEG-4 soy and palm amides, coco betaine and cocamidopropyl betaine. | Block copolymers set by starter, molecular weight, EO percentage and normal or reverse block order. Catalogue equivalents include L, P and F types plus fatty-alcohol, castor and random butanol EO/PO grades. | A named alcohol or polyol with a named fatty acid. Families include glyceryl, glycol, PEG, sorbitan, polyglycerol, alkyl benzoate and fatty alcohol esters. | Ethylene oxide on a fatty alcohol, fatty acid, alkyl phenol, natural oil, fatty amine or glycol at a defined molar ratio. | Phosphorus pentoxide on fatty alcohols, ethoxylated alcohols, alkyl phenol ethoxylates and selected specialty alcohols. | Propylene oxide, or mixed EO/PO, on an alcohol, glycol, amine, oil or alkyl phenol. PO lowers foam and cloud point versus a straight ethoxylate of similar chain length. | Monoester or diester sodium salts of sulfosuccinic acid, including DOSS in water, ethanol and propylene glycol, plus dilauryl, diamyl, laureth-3 and custom fatty-alcohol grades. | Sulfated fatty alcohols and ethoxylated alcohols, plus phenol and naphthalene sulfonates, on a dedicated sulfonation plant. |
| What to name on the order | Solids, pH and film hardness. Say wet-end versus finish, hide type, and any formaldehyde or APEO limit. | Moles, cloud point and hydroxyl value. | Free amine, free acid, pH and solids. State whether DEA is allowed. | Starter, molecular weight, percent EO and block order. Name APEO if a nonyl phenol EO/PO grade is required. | Saponification, hydroxyl and acid values. | Cloud point, hydroxyl value, saponification value and pH. State whether APEO is allowed. | Acid number, pH, colour and active content. State the hydrophobe, any EO moles, free acid versus salt, and APEO policy. | Starter and moles. | The cut (water, ethanol or propylene glycol) or the fatty alcohol, and whether the duty is industrial wetting or a wash product. | Active content, pH and unsulfated matter. State hydrophobe, EO moles, salt, APEO policy, and whether the duty is polymerisation, detergent or leather dispersing. |
| Typical duty | Leather wet-end fill and finishing. | Wetting and emulsifying. Mixed EO/PO when foam or oil solubility must move independently of total moles. | Wash foam, viscosity and hair-care antistats. | Locked block architecture, including low-foam and reverse-block duties. | Emulsifiers, emollients, pearlising and related industrial uses. | Wetting, emulsifying and dispersing. High moles can be feedstocks for sulphation. | Polymerisation, agro, metal and textile systems. | Low-foam wetting, rinse aids and coatings intermediates. | DOSS for coatings and industrial wetting. Laureth sulfosuccinate for wash foam. | Detergent sulphates, ether sulphates and leather sulfonates. |
| Not the same as | Commodity paint latexes. | EO/PO block copolymers, when the grade is a locked L, P or F architecture. | Amides and betaines are different chemistries. Sample with the ether-sulphate base the grade must thicken. | Propoxylates, when the TDS is written as PO moles on an alcohol. | An industrial ester lot is not automatically a food or cosmetic pack. | Alkoxylates and propoxylates, which add propylene oxide. A fatty acid ethoxylate is not an alcohol ethoxylate of similar HLB. | An alcohol phosphate is not an ethoxylated alcohol phosphate of a similar carbon number. | EO/PO block copolymers with a locked percent-EO architecture (L, P and F types). | An industrial DOSS lot is not automatically a food or pharma pack. Sulphates are a different anionic family. | Alkyl sulphates, alkyl ether sulphates and leather sulfonates are different duties. Sulfosuccinates are the milder anionic wetting family. |
This is a family map, not a grade specification. Open the chemistry page, or request a sample with the analytical window, before a lot is booked.