The present work is part of a more complex study referring to chemical substances known under the name of „surfactants” or „tensioactive agents” which can alter the conductivity of fibers, textile materials, etc. in order to diminish some negative physiological effects on the human body. The use of raw materials, indigenous or imported, refers to the strategy adopted by each firm, concerning their own technology, which should include both organization and management of production processes, and ways of introducing the technical progress with economic efficiency.surfactant, textile industry, latex, deformer, isoelectric point, technical progress

Camelia Georgeta CALIN

Georgiana Raluca GANCIU

Ligia Florica BOTEZ

English

Research Papers in Economics

Management Management Management Management    
 
 
 
 
 
Economia. Seria Management        Vol.13, Nr. 1/2010 
 
187
 
 
  Efficient uses of some types of surfactant 
products 
 
                                                              
 
                                     
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania 
                                        
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania 
                  A    
 
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania 
E-mail: ganciugeorgiana@yahoo.com 
 
 
Abstract 
The present work is part of a more complex study referring to chemical substances 
known  under  the  name  of  „surfactants”  or  „tensioactive  agents”  which  can  alter  the 
conductivity of fibres, textile materials, etc. in order to diminish some negative fiziological 
effects on the human body. The use of raw materials, indigenous or imported, refers to the 
strategy adopted by each  firm, concerning their own technology, which should include 
both organization and management of production processes, and ways of introducing the 
technical progress
 with economic efficiency. 
 
Keywords: surfactant, textile industry, latex, deformer, isoelectric point, technical 
progress. 
 
Rezumat 
Lucrarea  face  parte  dintr-un  studiu  complex,  referitor  la  substanţele  chimice 
cunoscute sub denumirea de surfactanţi – agenţi activi de suprafaţă – care pot modifica 
conductivitatea fibrelor, materialelor textile etc. în scopul diminuării unor efecte fiziologice 
negative asupra organismului. Utilizarea materiilor prime, indigene sau de import, face 
trimitere la adaptarea de către fiecare firmă în parte, a unei strategii tehnologice proprii, 
care va trebui să cuprindă atât organizarea şi conducerea proceselor de producţie, cât şi 
căile de introducere ale progresului tehnic
  cu eficienţă economică. 
 
Cuvinte-cheie:  substanţe  antistatizante,  industrie  textilă,  latex,  antistatizant, 
punct izoelectric, progres tehnic. 
 
JEL Classification: O30, O31 
 
he  electrostatic  load  on  non-conductive  materials,  which  implies 
effects  of  dirt,  through  the  attraction  of  dust  particles  from  the 
environment, as well as the production of physiological effects that 
occur when the human body comes in contact with electrostatic loaded materials –  T Management Management Management Management    
 
 
 
 
 
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suggested  the  idea  that,  all  the  processes  of  prevention  and  reduction  of  these 
effects  can be  obtained through  conductivity  improvement  techniques  of  fibers, 
textile materials and not only. 
This change may take place through the action on both the fiber in various 
stages of manufacture and the manufacturing space environment, by treating with 
surfactants
 (Botez, Socolescu & Călin, 2007) – surface acting agents. 
Surfactants  are  usually  organic  compounds,  amphiphilic,  having 
hydrophobic groups – in the terminal part – and hydrophilic groups – at the top. 
They are soluble in both organic solvents and water. The term surfactant 
was first used by Antara Products in 1950. 
These substances, depending on their chemical structure, are adsorbed on 
fibers  or  latexes  and  can  persist  for  a  long  time,  or  may  be  removed  through 
washing processes. 
Chemical products with antistatic properties are part – as mentioned – of a 
wide variety of classes that include anionic, cationic, nonionic, amphoteric surface 
active agents, silicone derivatives etc. 
The  anti-electrostatic  action  is  supplemented  by  effects  of  lubrication, 
emollient,  hydrophilic  and  emulsifier  –  properties  used  in  the  pharmaceutical 
industry to prepare creams and lotions, degreasers and cleaning agents for fabrics 
and surfaces. 
Also  worth  mentioning  are  the  effects  of  additivation,  painting  –  the 
tinctorial  (Antohi  et  al.,  1992)  properties  of  polymers  that  increase  greatly  the 
intensity  of  colors,  leading  to the  use of dye  in  small  quantities  – or the  anti-
fogging feature, the disinfection of some medical products, or in cosmetics – hair 
conditioning after shampoo etc. 
Because  of  their  excellent  properties,  this  class  of  products  is,  also, 
recommended  in  biochemical  techniques,  such  as  electrophoresis  for  the 
identification  of  proteins  and  the  investigation  of  molecular  properties  of 
membrane proteins and lipoproteins, in high performance liquid chromatography, 
in luminescence spectroscopy. 
As products with emulsifier character we mention the diamines obtained 
by the authors (Botez, Călin, Socolescu & Ganciu, 2008), from indigenous raw 
materials, such as dicarboxylic acids, after their methods of work. 
Substances  presented  emollient  and  antistatic  effects  and  are  non-
inflammable, compatible with the fleets applied in the treatments for Revlon and 
Melana (Creţu et al., 1986) fibres. 
Auxiliaries, for the textile industry, leather, electro-insulating varnish and 
paints industry and the softeners or soap industry, can be obtained using a range of 
indigenous  raw  materials,  produced  by  the  company  S.C.  SIN  S.C.  – 
“Oleochemical products less toxic and polluting” (Table 1). 
 Management Management Management Management    
 
 
 
 
 
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Indigenous oleaginous products 
Table 1 
Raw materials  Application fields  
Distilled acids from animal fats, 
technical 
  Obtaining emulsions for polymerization of 
synthetic rubber; 
  Soap industry; 
  Waxes industry and other chemical intermediates. 
Distilled acids from  vegetable oils 
(from  sunflower  oils  –  AGUFS; 
from soybean oil – AGUFS) 
  Obtaining alkyd resins, in the softeners industry; 
  Electro-insulating varnish  industry; 
  Manufacture of textile auxiliaries, fatty esters etc. 
Fatty  acids  of  tallow  (mixture  of 
natural  fatty  acids  saturated  and 
unsaturated) 
  Manufacture of waxes; 
Tehnolin (distilled fatty acids from 
linseed oil) 
  Industry of varnishes and paints. 
Agurd  (mixture  of  distilled  fatty 
acids,  obtained  from  dehydrated 
castor oil) 
  Industry of varnishes and paints. 
Trioleina (oleic acid with glycerin )    Auxiliaries in the leather industry – in the form of 
pigment pastes. 
 
Thereby, the use of raw materials, indigenous or imported, refers to the 
strategy  adopted  by  each  firm,  concerning  their  own  technology,  which  should 
include both organization and management of production processes, and ways of 
introducing the technical progress. 
Generally these compounds with antistatic effect are not toxic, except for 
small experimental abstractions. For example, in the case of per fluorinated acids 
production,  by  transforming  in  polyfluoroalkyl  phosphate  surfactants  (PAPS)  – 
biodegradable or non-biodegradable – were investigated the pathways of human 
contamination – because these per fluorinated acids were detected in human blood 
worldwide,  with  increased  levels  in  the  industrialized  areas  (D’eon  &  Mabury, 
2007). The contamination is possible through indirect exposure to per fluorinated 
acids, for example, through ingestion in the treatment of paper packaging etc. „The 
investigation has been quantified by contaminating some batches of guinea pigs to 
which were administered variable doses of fluorotelomer alcohol (FTOH), while in 
contact  with  the  paper  packaging.  The  liver  and  tissues  of  the  animals  tested 
showed increased levels of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) /PAPS which leads to 
the conclusion that these compounds migrate into food from paper packaging.” 
One of the practical uses of surfactants is based on their capacity to adsorb 
on latexes, discovering thus the possibility of using the „emulsifiers” in obtaining 
the  pigment  pastes  in  the  presence  of  a  water  dispersion  of  an  ethyl  acrylate 
copolymer, acrylic acid, metylacrylamide, for finishing natural leather. This way, 
the  technology  eliminates  the  pigment  pastes  based  on  casein  and  generally  - 
natural proteins – as dispersion and stabilization agents of pigment particles. 
By  replacing  casein  with  a  surfactant  agent,  were  able  to  obtain  more 
stable pigment pastes, miscible with water and which imprint the final product – in Management Management Management Management    
 
 
 
 
 
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this  case  natural  leather  or  substitutes  –  superior  quality  properties  -  “Pigment 
pastes based on acrylate copolymer for finishing natural leather” (Trişcă-Rusu et 
al., 1989). 
However, the multi-component systems mentioned require the observation 
and  correction  of  paste’s  viscosity,  by  controlling  the  amount  of  acrylate 
copolymer. 
The  classification  of  pigment  pastes  is  made  according  to  the  type  of 
pigment used: anorganic or organic. It was determined that, the difference between 
the processes for preparation of pigments paste from the same category, lies in 
adjusting the viscosity, which is made by adding water up to the optimal value. 
“Basically  it  was  proven  that,  regardless  of  the  pigment's  color,  is  obtained  a 
homogeneous  paste,  with  desired  luster,  with  a  pigment  concentration  of 
approximately  twice  to  the  similar  pastes  based  on  casein.  As  well,  has  been 
observed that the nature and size of the pigment's particles, affect the quality of 
produced  paste,  which  should  feature  fineness,  dispersion's  stability,  covering 
capacity”. (D’eon & Mabury, 2007). 
The viscosity index – essential parameter for obtaining the best quality 
pigment pastes, was studied by several authors (Mahli et al., 2003), taking into 
account the behavior of surface active agents and their influence on the viscosity of 
associated (coagulated) solutions – respectively of the dispersed latex in water. 
Practically  it  was  used  a  dialyzed  108  nm  monodisperse  acrylic  latex, 
stabilized with a surface acid group (accounting for 16% of the total surface) and 
which  were  studied  0.25  volume  fraction  (VF).  In  the  latex  the  amount  of 
surfactant (for each sample SDS <<Creţu et al. 1986>> and NDE) was controlled, 
to which were added 0.5 nm jell. 
In Table 2 is presented the variation of viscosity index according to the 
nature and influence of surfactant used and the influence of hydration layers on 
effective volume fraction. 
 
Relative viscosity of latex with 108 nm 600 nm concentration 
Table 2 
Adsorbed layer 
thickness 
Effective Volume 
Fraction 
Relative 
viscosity 
Viscosity 
(Pa.s) 
600 nm Latex 
 5 nm……………..... 
10 nm……………… 
15 nm……................ 
20 nm…………........ 
25 nm…………….... 
108 nm Latex 
5 nm……………….. 
10 nm……………… 
15 nm……………… 
20 nm……………… 
25 nm……………… 
 
0,26 
0,28 
0,29 
0,30 
0,31 
 
0,32 
0,39 
0,46 
0,53 
0,60 
 
2,31 
2,52 
2,64 
2,77 
2,91 
 
3,05 
4,57 
7,87 
18,15 
120,92 
 
0,006 
0,006 
0,007 
0,007 
0,007 
 
0,008 
0,011 
0,019 
0,045 
0,302 
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Whatever  the  mechanism,  the  synergy  of  large  viscosity  increases  in 
nonionic surfactant solutions containing HEURs with large terminal hydrophobes. 
As can be seen from the table, when multiple hydrophobes are attached to 
the terminal positions, the nonionic surfactants dominate over SDS. 
Figure  1  presents  the  variation  of  surfactant  concentration  (mM)  after 
adsorption on acrylic latex. 
 
Figure 1. The calculated amount of surfactant (mM) before and after the adsorption 
on acrylic latex (gray bars – SDS = surface agents used in biochemistry, black bars - 
NPEO12, mM = millimoles) 
 
Thereby,  at  a  108  nm  concentration  of  acrylic  latex,  and  a  0.66  wt% 
content of HEUR (Poly(oxyetylene) – modify waterproof latex), various quantities 
of surfactant – NPEO12, the viscosity value is low – 25 VF. 
In figure 2 is presented the isoelectric point of MMA / MAA (96/4) latex 
with 0.5 wt% model associative thickener (C18H37NH - COO) 2(EtO) 454 at pH =9,2. 
When the concentration of acid or base in a protein solution is adjusted so that the 
number of COO
- şi NH3
+ groups of each macromolecule is equal, the isoelectric 
point  is  reached.  At  the  isoelectric  point  the  solubility  of  macromolecules  is 
minimal, and most of them are insolubles. The effects of the electrostatic forces 
that can influence the viscosity’s difference are minimized by the adsorption of an 
HEUR. Management Management Management Management    
 
 
 
 
 
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Figure 2. Isoelectric point (IEP) of MMA/MAA (96/4) latex with 0.5 wt% model 
associative thickener (C18H37NH - COO)2(EtO)454 at pH = 9,2 
 
Regarding the quality and behavior of pigment pastes, this is in term of 
control  and  correction  of  the  necessary  viscosity  up  to  a  value  of  ~90KU 
considering the quantity variation of pigment, dialyzed acrylic latex and surfactant. 
For  obtaining  the  pigment  pastes  was  studied  the  influence  o  three 
pigments with pure titanium (Ti) mixed with acrylic copolymer
 (D’eon & Mabury, 
2007).  The  pigment  grind  composition  is  easy  to  keep  and  has  a  constant 
concentration – Table 3. 
Pigment grind formulations 
Table 3 
Formulation for this study  Standard formulation 
Component  Amount (g)  Component  Amount (g) 
TiO2 (R-900) 
Dispersant: oMMA 
Surfactant: NPEO12 
149,5 
1,94g 
0,04g (1,20 mM) 
TiO2 (R-900) 
Dispersanta  
149,5 
4,5 
Dispersant: DIBMA 
Surfactant: NP(EO)12 
or Surfactant: SDS 
1,79g 
0,034g (1,02 mM) 
0,129g (1,02 mM) 
Surfactantb   2,0 
Ethylene glycol 
Water  
Defoamer 
Total 
10,7 
33,0 
0,00 
195,0 
Ethylene glycol 
Water  
Defoamer 
Total 
10,7 
27,0 
2,6 
196,3 
  (a) DIBMA; (b) b-C13H27(OEt)9 
oMMA= polymethacrylic acid; NPEO12 = nonfenol – etilen glicol; DIBMA = copolimer 
dizobutilen şi acid maleic; MMA = metacrilat de metil; VF = factor de viscozitate Management Management Management Management    
 
 
 
 
 
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And in Figure 3 is shown the variation of thickener for a dialyzed latex 
with stabilized TiO2  pigment, needed to achieve ~90KU viscosity 
Figure 3. Concentration (wt%)of thickener needed to achieve ~90KU viscosity 
with 108 nm dialyzed latex and stabilized TiO2 pigment 
 
In  Table  4  are  presented  the  most  important  physical  properties  of 
surfactants considered in this study. 
 
Physical properties of surfactants considered in this study 
Table 4 
CMC (10
-3 M)         Aggregation (N)          Micellar Weight 
SDS......................................              8,2                           64                               18,400 
b-C13H27(OEt)9....................              0,12                        164                              98,000 
NP 12 – Nonifenol (EO)12...              0,075                      175                            131,100 
NP 40 – Nonifenol (EO)40...              0,10                          31                              60,900 
Brij 700 – C18H37(EO)100....               0,02                   Not available                     NA 
 
In conclusion,  the brief  study presented, seeks  to confirm the  excellent 
properties of this class of substances, called “surfactants”, surface active agents, 
which are recommended to be used in multiple technical and economical activity Management Management Management Management    
 
 
 
 
 
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194 
areas. Used in textile industry, in the preparation of fibers, auxiliaries in dyeing 
processes – pigments pastes – for textile and leather industry – mainly through 
favorable alteration of the viscosity index etc., these substances play a positive role 
in increasing the commercial quality and value of many products. 
Also, the new usages of surfactants lead to the production of nonpolluting 
(clean) products, this way allowing the protection of the environment. 
This way are set the bases of developing cleaner technologies for a wide 
range  of  products  intense  used  in  many  industrial  activities  that  process  raw 
materials. 
Also  worth  mentioned  is  that  the  phenomenon  of  pollution  and  the 
introduction  of  clean  technologies  are  included  within  the  sphere  of  technical 
progress and economic eficiency, which represents the application of science and 
technology achievements in the economic practice of the 21
st century. 
 
 
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Efficient uses of some types of surfactant products

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Efficient uses of some types of surfactant products

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