KEVIN J. MUTCH!™*, FABRIZIO MAZZEO? *Coresponding Author 1. Clariant Pradukte (Deutschland) GmbH, Clariant innovation Center, Industriepork Héchst, 65926 Fronklurt am Main, Germany 2. Clariant ,Brazi) S.A., Av. dos Nagdes Unidas. 18.001, (04795-900 S00 Paulo. Broz Sustainable cleaning with soil release polymers KEYWORDS: Soil release polymer, soll release polyester, laundry, low temperature laundry, @CM-D. more ments and thei mers for palyester-containing nable. nmentaly (es some of the benef offered by t Abstract rewanereteia neate oe in making laundry a INTRODUCTION ‘As the world population continues to grow, detergent manufacturers ore faced with the challenge of anticipating ‘and addressing the changing needs of their consumers. Larger numbers of people are gaining access to automatic washers, the arowth of liquid detergents for outstrips that of powder detergents the world over, and whilst the world ‘production of cotton stagnates. that of polyester continues to increase at significant levet. n such a challenging environment, there is c growing need for weight-etficient ‘materials that can cid the laundering process under dificult Cconatitions such as high dilution and mild abrasion. As @ result, new versions of old chemisties are gaining a place of ever increasing importance in the formulator's cupboard, a prime example being soilrelease polyesters (SRP). The role of these polymers in addressing fsues such as the laundering of synthetic garments, parficulaly under challenging concitions, aswell as the potential improvements in the eco-profie of the laundering process as © whole through reduced electricity and water consumption, willbe explored in this article, SOIL RELEASE POLYMERS Sol release is understood to be the improvement in detergency that f brought about through the modification of a surface to- be cleaned in a pre-treatment stage, ie. before soling occurs. Inthe case of polyethylene terephthalate polyoxyethylene terephthalate (PET-POET) polymers, which are widely usedtin ‘both fquid and powder detergent (I). the sollrelease properties have been attributed to a hydrophilation of the hydrophobic polyester surface (2). As the removal of hydrophobic oly and fatty sols from polyester simpeded by the aint of the soil for the hydrophobic surface, the change in the surface properties con lead to a large improvement in the soilremoval. Such improvements are becoming ever mare important. While the world demand for cotton sil outweighed that for polyester near the end of the last century, the demand by 2030 for polyester is predicted to be double that for cotton (3}. Any adaftives which thus aid the removal of ciy sins from polyester are required ow more than ever. [ADSORPTION MECHANISM OF SOIL RELEASE POLYMERS AND PERFORMANCE AT LOW CONCENTRATION ‘though the surface properties of solrelease palmer fins on polyester have been well studied (4). the dynamics is less well known. n acer to study the deposition process. measurements were conducted en a quartz crystal microbalance with disipation mentoring {GCM} [5 Ths method uses the piezoele chic nature of quartz to is aivantoge. in hat o polymer solution is injected into a fiow cell over the: crystal that is kept \eraing ts resonant frequency due o an applied coment. Any increase of the mass of the crystal due to depasiion from the solution is transiated into a trequency change of he vibration and con be used fo calculate o depostedi mass. Measurements were conducted on a @ Sense E¢(Bioin ‘Scientific, Sweden) in simulated tap water of °dH at 25°C under a.censtant flow rate of 0.1 mi/min, Tree solufons of increasing polymer concentration were sequentially pumped through the system before a final nse with pute wae: Figure | shows the mass of polymer deposited onto a sensor coated with polyethylene terephthalate (PET). extentilly mimicking a polyester fabric. Not only can ite seen that the depasition from the polymer solution occurs very quickiy, within the fist 2-3 minutes of the experiment, but itis aso evident that significant amount of polymer remains on the sensor after finsing with pure water, shown by the small mass decrease after (round 180 minutes. is abo important to note that an increase in polymer concentration from 0.01 wi t0.0.1 wt.% does not lead to an increase of polymer mass on the sensor. Ii can thus be concluded that the optimal polymer concentration in a wash Iqueris reached at concentrations below 001 wt which correspands fo concentrations of 2wi.% orlessin a detergent dosed at 4to SailFigure 1. CMD resus of pure scutions of 2 SRP [TexCore SR 260) fowng over a PET sense After ining. approximately 5 mg/mt oF Polymer remans on the senso The effectiveness of soi release polymers at very ow concentrations can be vetlied by considering the performance data presentedn Figure2_ Polyester fabsics[WFK SOA) ware prewashed with'o detergent containing varying amounis of polymer subsequently soled with dity motor ol ied and finaly washed wih the same detergent used or pre wasting: the detergent composion is shown in Table 1. Anincreasein the amount-of ol removed from the fobic, os defied from specttophotomettic measurements, sevicient al even very low concentrations of 0.25 wt. %in he detergent. increasing the polymer dosage to around | wt-%leads to futher upit but no Soniicant benefits found when going to even higher concentrations. Sol release polymers are thus not aniy ideaty suifed to reploce some of the less weigh-etfecive surfactants that ore traditionally used for sol emoval. but they exe oko effective in igh dlute condiions such as those found in fop- loading washing mockines ” Figure 2 Amount cfedely rotor oly removed irom Polyester fabrics . (wee 4) wren washed at °C with “ liquid detergent é Speed at 43 gh ang ‘containing increasing ‘amounts of fexcare = SRN 260. USE OF SOIL RELEASE POLYMERS TO IMPROVE DETERGENCY AT LOW WASHING TEMPERATURES. (One of the major chalenges when woshing polyester tems is the removal of soi faty stains ct ombient tempeatwres. hiss @ problem which keody exéisin much of the world where cold \wasthingjs the nonm, but becoming more ‘opparentin Europe and the USA os consumes lower thet woshing temperatures. The use of suitable scilrelease polymer can play a slgnifcant role in alleviating this problem, as shown in Faure 3, An increase n washing temperature can only increase the removal of sebum-carbon block by aimfed amount whereas pre-washing with 0 sol release polymer containing detergent caniead io a tage increase in sollemoval, even at 20°C. Besides removing sol from clothes, one ot the primary roies of surfactants in a detergent is the suspension of wo — — Figure 3 Salremoval ot Boumscarbon black fom ee EI = J mined polycotton (50:50) foprcrinat wore ore wothed mitra detergent fe desoibed inate 1) ‘siher wahteut polmerce Wh 15 Texte SRN 260 (Ghd then subsequent ‘Seine. drisd ond tol weshed at 20°C or aC = wih the nud detergent . G85 gf The images show Beturee ate wanes fabrics a -— —— Figure 4 ant redepostion —_ — Senet af ‘detergent oo conterang 1% " excore SRN 240 ‘when wend | ~ noe srened ‘condition of | gh ‘detergent wathiO.5 ‘Siioere ob camon Black at 25°C the soil in solution in order to prevent its redepositian ‘on the washed garments. Small amounts of soil lease polymer can perform this fask very effectively on ail fabtic types but especially on those containing polyester. As Figure 4 shows, the addition of 1% soll release polymer fo a detergent can lead to a large increase in anti- redeposition benefit when washing under stressed conditions. One of the most Important consequences Of this is that iess water is then required for rinsing as the clothes are already very clean - this is particularly important in areas where water may be scorce. ‘CONCLUSIONS New soil release polymers such as TexCare SRN 260, which ‘exhibit improved stobilty anc performance. can be added in smatt quonfiies to laundry detergents tolmprove the averall cleaning of polyester-containing fabrics. Improved removal of fatty and oily stoins ot ambient temperatures together with superior whiteness maintenance, makes these polymers ‘an ideal choice for the Formulator seeking weight-effcient ingrecients |. GoueinkEP, Sof Release Agentsin Powdered Detergents. Chapter 7.in Powered Detergents Ested by Showell MS, Maral Dakioot tr (1998 OlLanick ALLL Sut Det 2.553.557 (1999) Ma- Mare Foes Contiiue fo Grow: hi /wewcladtiewsid cand texte noteber-wod/2015/02/man-made-foer-contweto- ow fas checked on Dec 22016) 4, Calvmontas A, st ct enside Sut Det, 42 210-2016 2005) 5. RodahiM. et al_Rev. Sci insinim. 66, 3924-3950 (1995), ee