Livening agnet with antistatic and softening effect

The invention relates to a fabric softener having an antistatic and softening effect, low toxicity and good biodegradability, which comprises a mixture of a cationic and a non-ionic surfactant.

Fabric softeners improve the utility properties of fabrics, ie prevent or build up electrostatic charges on textiles, enhance appearance, soften the touch and facilitate washability in subsequent washes. They are applied in the last rinse bath on wet washed laundry after removal of anionic surfactant residues from the wash liquor.

Commonly used fabric softeners typically contain a quaternary ammonium compound having an antistatic and softening effect. They may further comprise an emulsifier, an optical brightener, a colorant, a perfume or a pearlescent agent.

The quaternary salts used are generally dimethyldistearylammonium salts, substituted imidazolinium salts, alkyltrimethylammonium or alkylbenzyldimethylammonium salts. The starting materials used for the production of these raw materials are amines, diamines or triamines, which are produced in a relatively complicated manner.

In addition to their excellent utility properties, the quaternary ammonium compounds also have a number of disadvantages, in particular higher toxicity to nonionic surfactants and higher cost.

The above-mentioned drawbacks do not have the fabric softener composition according to the invention with antistatic and softening effect, low toxicity and it consists in that it contains from 1 to 36% by weight of synergistic mixture of cationic and non-ionic surfactant in weight ratio of 0.1 to 8: 1. a quaternary ammonium salt of formula I is used

R²

R^l—COOCH2CH2N + - R3 X * I wherein

R¹ denotes an alkyl radical having 7 to 22 carbon atoms,

R² (C 1 -C 4) -alkyl radical

R³ methyl, ethyl or benzyl; and

X a methoxy, ethoxy or chlorine atom and the nonionic surfactant used is an acyl polyglycol of formula II

R1CO (OCH2CH2)_nOH II and / or an alkyl polyglycol of formula III

R1 (OCH2CH2) n OH III in which it has

R¹ the above-mentioned meaning and n is a natural number 2 to 36.

It is an advantage of the fabric softener composition that the desired antistatic effect is achieved with a lower amount of catlon-active surfactant, since the mixture of said cationic surfactant (KT) and non-ionic surfactant (NT) exhibits a synergistic effect. The composition has up to 1 order (by KT: NT ratio) better antistatic effect given by the surface resistance of the treated fabrics than the theoretical assumption calculated on the basis of linear combinations of the surface resistance of the fabrics treated with the starting surfactants themselves.

The fabric softener composition of the invention reduces the surface resistance from 1.10¹² to 1.10¹³ ohm by type of fabric on 1.10⁹ to 6.1O¹⁰ohm by the ratio of cationic surfactant to nonionic at a concentration of 0.4 grams. 1^_ 100% active ingredient, which is the normal application concentration. Commercial fabric softeners reduce surface resistance to 2.10^1θ to 8.10¹⁰ ohm according to the type of fabric.

The synergistic effect is shown in the following table for an application concentration of 0.4 g.¹100% active substance and combination of N, N-diethyl-N-methyl-N- (2-stearoyloxyethyl) ammonium methosulfate (KT of formula I R1 = C18H37, R²= C 2 H 5, R⁵= CH3, X - = OSO2OCH3 and acyl polyglycol ester (NT of formula II R =¹ N = 16).

Surface resistance (ohm) KT: NT ratio PES PAD PAN

<td></td><td>theory.</td><td>determined</td><td>theory.</td><td>determined</td><td>theory.</td><td>determined</td>

<td>pure NT</td><td></td><td>3.8. ion</td><td></td><td>7.7 ion</td><td></td><td>4.0. 10io</td>

<td> 0,4 :1</td><td>6.7. ΙΟ⁴⁸</td><td> 1,7.10⁹</td><td>1.9. ion</td><td> 2,5.101°</td><td> 1,7.101°</td><td> 3,8.10⁹</td>

<td> 1:1</td><td> 1,8. 101°</td><td> 9,9.10»</td><td> 6,8.101°</td><td> 1,3.101°</td><td> 8,5.10⁹</td><td> 2,6.10⁹</td>

<td> 2,5 :1</td><td rowspan="2"> 5,0.10⁹</td><td> 9,0.10»</td><td rowspan="2"> 2,4.101°</td><td> 7,5.10°</td><td rowspan="2"> 4,2.10⁹</td><td> 2,2.10⁹</td>

<td>pure KT</td><td> 7,9.10«</td><td> 5,9.10⁹</td><td> 1,7.10⁹</td>

<td>without modification</td><td></td><td>1.0. ΙΟΙ³</td><td></td><td> 6,0.1012</td><td></td><td> 1,0.1012</td>

The surface resistance is determined on a Teralin III teraohmmeter supplemented with a stainless steel probe in the form of parallel 10 cm blades spaced 0.7 cm apart. The measurement is carried out at a temperature of 20 to 22 ° C and a relative humidity of 60 to 65%.

The fabric softener composition of the present invention contains less quaternary ammonium compounds to achieve the antistatic effect, and is therefore less toxic and better biodegradable since the nonionic surfactant used (especially when acylpolyglycol is used) is nontoxic and readily degradable. kg¹by alkyl type (Jungermann E .: Catlonic Surfactants, New York 1970). The literature (Blažej A. et al .: Surfactants, Bratislava 1977) reported 2000 to 12,500 mg for the alkyl polyglycols LD20. kg^-1 and for acyl polyglycols LD 50 12 500 to 50 200 mg. kg ~ i.

The fabric softener composition of the present invention is also less expensive since the cost of nonionic surfactants is on average 2X to 3X lower than the cost of cationic surfactants.

There is no objective standard for evaluating the softening effect. The emollient effect is evaluated subjectively as described [Egan RR: J. Am. Oll-Chem. Soc. 55, 118 (1978)] by a group of 5 persons who evaluate the terry cloth and classify them into 5 softness classes, where the 1st grade denotes the hardest canvas and the 5th softest.

The untreated canvas and the dimethyldistearylammonium chloride treated canvas, which have an excellent softening effect classified in softness class 5, are chosen as the comparative standards.

The fabric softener composition of the invention is readily prepared by mixing the starting materials at 30 to 60 ° C in water.

The quaternary salt is prepared by quaternizing the reaction product of a fatty acid and diethylaminoethanol (optionally dimethylaminoethanol with dimethyl sulfate, diethyl sulfate or benzyl chloride).

Acyl polyglycol, respectively. the alkyl polyglycol is obtained by oxyethylation of a fatty acid, respectively. fatty alcohol.

Depending on the need and type of application, a perfume, colorant or optically brightener is added.

The following examples illustrate the composition and manufacture of the fabric softener with antistatic and softening effect, but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Example 1

To a 10 m reactor³ equipped with a stirrer and a heating coil 2 000

240532 liters of water heated to 40 ° C, 80 kg of stearyl-icosylethylene glycol are added and the mixture is stirred until complete dissolution. Then 800 kg of 50% N, N-diethyl-N-methyl-N- (2-stearoyloxyethyl jamonium methosulfate) was added and the mixture was stirred for 2 hours without further heating, followed by 580 liters of water, 40 kg of perfume over 1 hour. and the mixture was stirred for an additional 2 hours. A pearly white fabric softener with excellent antistatic and good softening effect is obtained, also suitable for use in automatic washing machines. The composition is particularly suitable for antistatic treatment of purely synthetic fabrics. Reduces surface resistance to 8.10⁸ to 8. 10⁹ ohm according to the type of fabric at an application concentration of 0.4 g. I '¹ 100% active substance. The softening effect is evaluated by softness class 5.

Example 2

To a 10 m reactor³ With a stirrer and a heating coil, 2,000 liters of water heated to 40 ° C are impregnated, 80 kg of palmityldocosylethylene glycol and 240 kg of stearoylhexadecaethylene glycol are added, and the mixture is stirred until both components are dissolved and homogenized. Then, 400 kg of 40% Ν, Ν, Ν-trimethyl-N- (2-palmitoyloxyethyl Jamonium methosulfate) was added along with 2,000 L of water, and the mixture was stirred until fully homogenized without further heating. kg of perfume and the mixture was stirred for a further 2 hours. A slightly viscous fabric softener with a very good antistatic and softening effect is obtained. Formulation at application concentration of 0.4 g.¹ 100% active substance reduces surface resistance to 2.10⁹ to 2.10^1θ ohm according to the type of fabric. The softening effect is evaluated by softness class 5.

Example 3

In the same manner as in Example 2, 4000 L of water, 320 kg of palmitoyl octadecaethylene glycol, 640 kg of stearylpentacosylethylene glycol were mixed, and after homogenization and dissolution, 320 50% N, N, N-trimethyl-N- (2-myristoyloxyethyl ammonium methosulfate) was added. 680 l of water, 40 kg of perfume and mixed for 2 hours to give a good liquid softener with an antistatic and softening effect.¹ 100% active substance reduces surface resistance to 6.10⁹ to 6.10^1θ ohm according to the type of fabric. The softening effect is evaluated by softness class 4.

Example 4

To a 10 m reactor³ (according to Example 1) 2,000 l of water 40 ° C warm, 800 kg of palmityldecaethylene glycol, 2,667 kg of 30% N-ethyl-N, N-dimethyl-N- (2-lauroyloxyethyl) ammonium ethosulphate are impregnated and the whole mixture is stirred until complete homogenization Then, 2,493 L of water, 40 kg of perfume are added, and the mixture is stirred for a further 2 hours to give a concentrated fabric softener suitable primarily for hand fabric softener.¹ 100% active substance reduces surface resistance to 1.10⁹ up to 1,101 ° ohm depending on the type of fabric.

Example 5

To a 10 m reactor³ equipped with a stirrer and a heating coil, 2,000 liters of water are impregnated, 700 kg of 40% N, N-diethyl-N-methyl-N- (2-stearoyloxyethyl) ammonium methosulfate, 280 kg of stearoylhexadecaethylene glycol are added. 4,980 L of water, 40 kg of perfume are added over 30 minutes, and the mixture is stirred for a further 2 hours to give a pearlescent white paste conditioner with good antistatic and softening properties suitable for use in automatic washing machines. Formulation at application concentration of 0.4 g.¹ active substance reduces surface resistance to 1.10⁹to 1.10¹⁰ ohm according to the type of fabric. The softening effect is evaluated by softness class 5.

Example 6

2,000 liters of water, 555 kg of 40% N-benzyl-N, N, -diethyl-N- (2-lauroyloxyethyl) ammonium chloride and 738 kg of stearylhexacosylene ethylene glycol were added in the same manner as in Example 5. 4667 kg of water and 40 kg were added. A fabric softener suitable for use in automatic washing machines is also obtained, at a concentration of 0.4 g.¹100% active substance reduces surface resistance to 4.10⁹ to 4.10^1θ ohm according to the type of fabric. The softening effect is evaluated by softness class 4.