Nonionic-surfactants

What nonionic surfactants are

Nonionic surfactants in the Dyna Glycols range are primarily ethoxylates: fatty alcohol, alkyl phenol, fatty acid, fatty amine and oil ethoxylates, together with PEG, polysorbates and polyglycerates. Unlike anionics they do not carry a permanent charge, so they work in hard water, with many electrolytes, and alongside both anionic and cationic partners when the pH is suitable.

This page is the family overview for customers who specify “nonionic surfactant” without a hydrophobe. Most industrial briefs still resolve to a named ethoxylate once the oil phase, HLB, cloud point and regulatory constraints are known. Dyna Glycols manufactures the full alkoxylation set at Kandla so a single supplier can cover wetting, emulsifying, dispersing and solubilising duties.

How Dyna Glycols manufactures nonionic surfactants

Nonionic ethoxylates are produced by adding ethylene oxide to alcohols, phenols, acids, amines or oils in stainless-steel reactors with distillation and 24/7 QA. The same site supports esterification for sorbitan esters, PEG esters and polyglycerol esters that also behave as nonionics.

Custom moles, custom hydrophobes and pilot batches are available. When a specification only says “nonionic, HLB 12”, the laboratory will propose a fatty alcohol ethoxylate or PEG ester that matches that HLB and the customer’s regulatory list.

Typical grades in this range

Choose a hydrophobe first, then a mole or HLB. The families below are the usual starting points.

• Fatty alcohol ethoxylates — detergents, personal care, textile, APEO-free wetting
• Alkyl phenol ethoxylates — industrial emulsifiers where NP/OP chemistry is still specified
• Fatty acid and oil ethoxylates — ester-linked emulsifiers and solubilisers
• Fatty amine ethoxylates — weakly cationic nonionics for textile, agro and corrosion
• PEG, polysorbates, polyglycerates — solubilisers and food/personal-care emulsifiers

Where nonionic surfactants are used

Detergents use nonionic surfactants for oily soil and as foam moderators with anionics. Personal care uses them as emulsifiers and solubilisers that are milder than many anionics. Textile and leather processing rely on them for scouring, wetting and emulsifying fats.

Paints, inks and emulsion polymerisation use nonionics to wet pigments and to sterically stabilise latex. Agro EC/EW and tank-mix adjuvants use them to emulsify oils and to wet leaf surfaces. Metal cleaning and I&I hygiene are further volume outlets.

Where APEO is restricted, the nonionic of choice is usually a fatty alcohol ethoxylate or a PEG ester. Where an existing homologation is written around NP-9, alkyl phenol ethoxylates remain available. Dyna Glycols will not swap families unless the customer asks.

How to specify nonionic surfactants

Give HLB or EO moles, the oil or soil to be emulsified, bath temperature, pH, and any ban on APEO, food-contact or ecolabel lists. Name a competitor grade if the formula is already locked.

If foam, cloud point or freeze–thaw is critical, say so. Those three tests separate look-alike nonionics faster than a viscosity number alone.

Quality, documents and supply

Each nonionic grade is released against its own TDS: hydroxyl or saponification value, cloud point, pH, colour and water as applicable. SDS and COA follow company verification. Samples are supplied so the customer can run the application test, not only a bottle inspection.

Packaging is drums, IBCs or bulk depending on pour point. Store as recommended on the SDS. Warm and homogenise set grades before use.

Practical notes on nonionic surfactants

HLB is a screening tool, not a complete specification. Two nonionics with HLB 12 can differ in foam, odour, colour and electrolyte tolerance because the hydrophobe and mole distribution differ. Always confirm the hydrophobe on the COA.

Cloud point of aqueous nonionics falls when salt or alkali is added. Detergent and textile baths should quote cloud point in the real liquor, not only in deionised water.

Mixtures of two nonionics, or of a nonionic with an anionic, often outperform a single grade. Dyna Glycols can sample pairs (for example TDA-6 with TDA-15, or a sorbitan ester with a polysorbate) for the same evaluation.

Food, pharma and personal-care uses may need additional documentation beyond industrial SDS. State the end use so the correct grade and paperwork are offered.

Nonionic surfactants are generally compatible with enzymes, optical brighteners and many builders. They can depress foam of anionics, which is useful in machine detergents and in some textile jets.

For a first sample request, “nonionic surfactant for X” plus temperature and oil type is enough. The application team will map that onto a named ethoxylate or ester in this catalogue.

Ordering and evaluating nonionic surfactants

Dyna Glycols supports nonionic surfactants with laboratory samples, current SDS, TDS and COA from the Kandla SEZ manufacturing network. Tell us the intended application, the substrate, the required moles or molecular weight, and any limits on colour, odour, cloud point, hydroxyl value, pH or residual feedstock. A matching catalogue grade of nonionic surfactants in the Ethoxylates family can then be confirmed, or a custom batch can be planned on the ethoxylation, esterification or related plant.

When you evaluate nonionic surfactants, send the competitor grade if one exists, the bath or emulsion conditions, and the tests your receiving laboratory will run. Pack options for nonionic surfactants typically include drums, IBCs and bulk where the viscosity and melting point of the selected grade allow safe handling from the Ethoxylates manufacturing line.

A first order of nonionic surfactants is easier when the purchase specification lists identity tests, not only a local trade name. Hydroxyl value, saponification value, acid value, cloud point, pH, water, colour and appearance are the numbers the Kandla QA laboratory can lock. If your QC uses a different solvent or a different cloud-point electrolyte for nonionic surfactants, write that method on the order so the COA speaks the same language.

Custom lots of nonionic surfactants are quoted after the hydrophobe or acid/alcohol pair, the target analytical window, the annual volume and the pack. Pilot batches are available when a catalogue point in the Ethoxylates range is close but not exact. Once a trial lot is approved, that TDS should be frozen so the tenth delivery of nonionic surfactants matches the first approved drum.

Storage of nonionic surfactants should follow the SDS: keep containers closed, protect hygroscopic grades from moisture, and warm high-melt or high-mole grades until uniform before sampling. FIFO rotation protects colour and odour. If a drum of nonionic surfactants has frozen or separated in transit, homogenise it before charging a batch; do not decant only the liquid layer.