阅读说明：本技术 用粘合剂及任选载体固化液体氧化胺、甜菜碱和/或磺基甜菜碱表面活性剂 (Curing liquid amine oxide, betaine and/or sulfobetaine surfactants with binders and optional carriers ) 是由 温迪·罗 E·C·奥尔森 J·D·汉森 K·J·莫里纳罗 C·罗森塔尔 于 2019-01-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及用粘合剂固化液体氧化胺、甜菜碱和/或磺基甜菜碱表面活性剂以形成固化的表面活性剂组合物。确切地说,本发明涉及利用干燥装置进行对液体表面活性剂的固化,其中进料组合物含有至少一种液体表面活性剂和粘合剂以及任选载体以形成固化的表面活性剂组合物。所述固化的表面活性剂组合物可适用于各种清洁组合物。(The present invention relates to curing liquid amine oxide, betaine and/or sulfobetaine surfactants with a binder to form a cured surfactant composition. In particular, the present invention relates to the curing of liquid surfactants using a drying apparatus, wherein a feed composition contains at least one liquid surfactant and a binder and optionally a carrier to form a cured surfactant composition. The cured surfactant composition may be suitable for use in a variety of cleaning compositions.)

1. A cured liquid surfactant composition comprising:

a liquid surfactant comprising one or more of: amine oxides, betaines and sulfobetaines;

a solid binder comprising a natural polymer, urea, a urea derivative, a polyacrylate, PEG, an inorganic salt, an organic salt, an aromatic sulfonate, or a combination thereof; wherein the ratio of the solid binder to the liquid surfactant is between about 5:1 to about 1:30 on an actives basis;

wherein the composition is a solid and the liquid surfactant is solidified in the composition, and wherein the solidified surfactant composition has less than about 5 wt% water.

2. The cured surfactant composition of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the solid binder to the liquid surfactant is between about 4:1 and about 1:15 on an actives basis.

3. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-2, wherein the liquid surfactant is one or more of: dodecyl dimethyl amine oxide, tridecyl dimethyl amine oxide, tetradecyl dimethyl amine oxide, pentadecyl dimethyl amine oxide, hexadecyl dimethyl amine oxide, heptadecyl dimethyl amine oxide, octadecyl dimethyl amine oxide, dodecyl dipropyl amine oxide, tetradecyldipropylamine oxide, hexadecyldipropylamine oxide, tetradecyldibutylamine oxide, octadecyldibutylamine oxide, bis (2-hydroxyethyl) dodecylamine oxide, bis (2-hydroxyethyl) -3-dodecyloxy-1-hydroxypropylamine oxide, dimethyl- (2-hydroxydodecyl) amine oxide, 3,6, 9-trioctadecyldimethylamine oxide and 3-dodecyloxy-2-hydroxypropylbis- (2-hydroxyethyl) amine oxide.

4. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-3, wherein the liquid surfactant is one or more of: cocoacylamidopropyl dimethyl betaine, cetyl dimethyl betaine, C_12-14Acylamidopropyl betaine, C_8-14Acylamidohexyl diethylbetaine, C_16-18Acylamidodimethyl betaine, C_12-16Acylamidopentane diethylbetaine and C_12-16Acyl methyl amido dimethyl betaine.

5. The cured surfactant composition of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the liquid surfactant is of the formula (R)¹)₂N⁺R²SO^3-Wherein R is C₆-C₁₈A hydrocarbon group, wherein R¹Is C₁-C₃Alkyl, and wherein R²Is C₁-C₆A hydrocarbyl group.

6. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-5, wherein the binder is urea, a urea derivative, or a combination thereof.

7. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-5, wherein the binder is sodium acetate, sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, sodium xylene sulfonate, an alkali metal carbonate, or a combination thereof.

8. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-5, wherein the binder is a gum, cellulose ester, chitin, chitosan, starch, chemically modified starch, protein, lignin, natural rubber, or a combination thereof.

9. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-5, wherein the binder is PEG having a melting point of at least about 40 ℃.

10. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-9, wherein the binder is PEG 1450, PEG 3350, PEG4000, PEG 4600, PEG 8000, or a combination thereof.

11. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-10, further comprising a carrier.

12. The cured surfactant composition of claim 11, wherein the binder and carrier have a water solubility of about 0.2g/L or greater at 20 ℃.

13. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 11-12, wherein the carrier is a solid anionic surfactant, a solid organic salt, a solid inorganic salt, or a combination thereof.

14. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 11-13, wherein the carrier comprises alpha olefin sulfonate, linear alkyl sulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium alkyl sulfate, sodium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, sodium acetate, magnesium acetate, sodium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, sodium chloride, or a combination thereof.

15. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-14, wherein the cured surfactant composition has less than about 5 wt% water.

16. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-15, wherein the cured surfactant composition has less than about 2 wt% water.

17. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-16, wherein the cured surfactant composition contains at least about 10 wt% active surfactant.

18. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-17, wherein the cured surfactant composition contains at least about 25 wt% active surfactant.

19. The cured surfactant composition of any of claims 1-18, wherein the cured surfactant composition contains at least about 50 wt% active surfactant.

20. A method of making the cured surfactant composition of any one of claims 1-19, comprising:

adding the liquid surfactant and the solid binder to a drying apparatus;

drying the liquid surfactant and solid binder to form a cured surfactant composition;

wherein the liquid surfactant is cured in the cured surfactant composition, and

wherein the cured surfactant composition has less than about 5 wt% water.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the drying device is a continuous tunnel dryer, rotary dryer, vacuum dryer, tower shrinker, vibratory transport shrinker, drum dryer, screw transport dryer, fluidized bed, spouted bed, pneumatic conveyor, spray dryer, or combinations thereof.

22. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 21, wherein there are at least two drying devices placed in series or in parallel.

23. The method of any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the drying process is performed in a batch system.

24. The method of any one of claims 20 to 23, wherein the drying process is performed in a continuous system.

25. The method of any one of claims 20 to 24, wherein the drying apparatus comprises a fluidized bed.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the fluidized bed has an air velocity of between about 1 and about 100 feet per second.

27. The method of any one of claims 25-26, wherein the fluidized bed has a liquid flow rate of between about 0.001 and about 0.15lb/min of pounds of bed material.

28. The method of any one of claims 25-27, wherein the fluidized bed has an atomization pressure of between about 0psig and about 100psig per nozzle.

29. The method of any one of claims 25-28, wherein the method employs a granulation process and the binder is dissolved to form a liquid.

30. The method of any one of claims 25-28, wherein the method employs a coalescence process.

31. The method of any one of claims 20-24, wherein the drying device comprises a spray dryer.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the spray dryer has an inlet and an outlet; wherein the inlet temperature is between about 20 ℃ and about 250 ℃; and wherein the outlet temperature is less than about 150 ℃.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the inlet temperature is between about 100 ℃ and about 250 ℃; and wherein the outlet temperature is between about 20 ℃ and about 100 ℃.

34. A solid cleaning composition comprising:

the cured surfactant composition of any one of claims 1-20; and

and (3) a curing agent.

35. The cleaning composition of claim 34, wherein the cleaning composition is a warewashing composition, a laundry composition, or a hard surface composition.

36. The cleaning composition of any one of claims 35-36, further comprising an alkalinity source selected from the group consisting of: alkali metal hydroxides, alkali metal carbonates, metal silicates, metal borates, alkanolamines, and combinations thereof.

37. The cleaning composition of claim 36, wherein the alkalinity source is in an amount between about 0.01 wt.% and about 99 wt.% of the cleaning composition.

38. The cleaning composition of any one of claims 36-37, wherein the alkalinity source is in an amount sufficient to provide a pH in the use solution of between about 7 and about 14.

39. The cleaning composition of any one of claims 34-38, wherein the cleaning composition provides a pH of between about 1 and about 7 in a use solution.

40. The cleaning composition of any one of claims 34-39, further comprising an additional surfactant selected from the group consisting of: nonionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants, semi-polar nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, zwitterionic surfactants, and combinations thereof.

41. The cleaning composition of any one of claims 34-40, wherein the cleaning composition is a granular solid, a granulated solid, a cast solid, an extruded solid block, or a pressed solid.

42. The cleaning composition of claim 41, wherein the cleaning composition is a pressed solid.

43. The cleaning composition of any one of claims 34-42, further comprising at least one of the following additional ingredients: an acid source, an activator, an anti-redeposition agent, a bleaching agent, a chelating agent, a dye, an odorant, a filler, a functional polydimethylsiloxane, a hardener, a hydratable salt, a polymer, or a disinfectant.

44. A method of cleaning a surface comprising:

dissolving the cleaning composition of any one of claims 34 to 43 to form a liquid cleaning composition; and

contacting the surface with the liquid cleaning composition.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the liquid cleaning composition is diluted.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the dilution of the liquid cleaning composition is performed after the dissolution of the solid cleaning composition and before contacting the surface with the liquid cleaning composition.

47. The method of any one of claims 44-46, wherein the surface comprises a hard surface, an appliance, or an article of clothing.

48. The method of any one of claims 44-47, further comprising rinsing the surface with water.

49. The method of any one of claims 44-48, wherein the cleaning composition provides substantially similar foaming characteristics as a cleaning composition having the same ingredients, except that the cured surfactant composition is a liquid surfactant.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to curing liquid amine oxide, sulfobetaine, and/or betaine surfactants with a binder and optionally a carrier. In particular, it relates to curing liquid amine oxide, betaine and sulfobetaine surfactants using a drying apparatus, wherein the feed composition contains at least one surfactant and a water soluble binder.

Background

Many amine oxide, betaine, and sulfobetaine surfactants are only available in liquid form. It is desirable to provide many such surfactants in solid form to make solid cleaning compositions. Because many of these surfactants are only available in liquid form, they cannot be easily incorporated into solid formulations or are limited in the active concentration that can be included in the formulation.

Attempts have been made in the past to include certain liquid surfactants in solid form; however, these have been largely unsuccessful for a variety of reasons. Liquid amine oxides, betaines and sultaines cannot be converted to solid surfactants while maintaining surfactant efficacy. This has made the performance of solid cleaning compositions less desirable. Another problem is that cured amine oxide, betaine and sulfobetaine surfactants have generally been found to be sticky and thus suffer from clumping, compaction and coalescence, which has made packaging, storage, proper dosing and dispersion difficult in the manufacturing process. In addition, some processes for curing liquid amine oxides, betaines, and sulfobetaines require a substantial amount of binder and/or carrier, thereby reducing the active concentration of surfactant in the final product. Other efforts to solidify liquid surfactants have been made by using compounds that are not sufficiently water soluble, for example compounds having a solubility of about 0.2g/L or less at 20 ℃, such as fumed silica; this constitutes a problem for both the formulation and the end use, which is usually in water. Therefore, improvements are needed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the claimed invention to develop solidified amine oxide, betaine, and/or sulfobetaine compositions from liquid amine oxides, betaines, and/or sulfobetaines, and methods of making the compositions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide free-flowing cured amine oxide, betaine and/or sulfobetaine compositions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide cleaning compositions comprising cured amine oxide, betaine and/or sulfobetaine compositions.

Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Figure 1 shows the foam height versus the foaming characteristics of soil droplets (drops of soil) for solid floor care compositions, floor care compositions with liquid amine oxide, and floor care compositions with cured liquid amine oxide surfactant with urea as a binder.

Figure 2 shows a comparison of foam height for floor care compositions, floor care compositions with liquid amine oxide, and floor care compositions with cured liquid amine oxide surfactant with urea as a binder.

Figure 3 shows the foam height of two cleaning compositions compared to the foaming characteristics of the soil droplets. One formulation is an exemplary cleaning composition prepared with a liquid amine oxide surfactant cured with sodium acetate as the binder. This formulation was compared to a control composition prepared with the amine oxide surfactant in its liquid form at an active concentration of 500 ppm.

Figure 4 shows a comparison of foam height for an exemplary cured liquid amine oxide surfactant cured with sodium acetate as a binder compared to the same amine oxide surfactant in liquid form at 500ppm activity.

Various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the invention. The drawings presented herein are not limiting of the various embodiments in accordance with the invention and are presented for illustrative purposes only.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure relates to curing liquid amine oxide, betaine, and/or sulfobetaine surfactants with a binder and optionally a carrier to form a cured surfactant composition. Cured surfactant compositions have many advantages over existing formulations that include the same surfactants as those already in liquid form, which hampers or prohibits their use in certain types of solid formulations, including but not limited to pressed solids. For example, many amine oxides, betaines and sultaines are found in liquid form and are currently limited by commercially available solid actives. The conversion of liquid surfactants into cured surfactant compositions enables their use in higher concentrations in solid compositions and expands their usefulness in solid formulations. Unexpectedly, it has been found that the cured liquid amine oxide, betaine, and sulfobetaine surfactants in the cured surfactant composition provide substantially similar performance with respect to foam and soil removal characteristics, which is an indicator of overall good surfactant performance. This demonstrates the usefulness of the cured surfactant composition in a solid cleaning composition (including but not limited to pressed solids).