Cationic surfactants

Cationic surfactants

Common cationic surfactants include cetyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (1631), octadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (1831), cationic guar gum (C-14S), cationic panthenol, cationic silicone oil, dodecyldimethylamine oxide (OB-2) and so on. Cationic surfactants are different from other surfactants in that they have poor detergency and foaming properties, and often have a certain degree of irritant toxicity (low).

Cationic surfactants are used as auxiliary surfactants in liquid detergents – the conditioning agent component of formulations with very small dosages; they are generally used in higher-grade products, mainly in shampoos. Cationic surfactants are not directly compatible with anionic surfactants. There is a possibility of good results with cationic and anionic surfactants, but there is a higher risk of precipitation (crystallization).

There are many varieties of cationic surfactants used in shampoos, and the frequency of their use is relatively decentralized – not concentrating on the use of one or two varieties, and they are often formulated into conditioning agent products. Cationic surfactants account for a small share of surfactant production and tend to be more expensive than other types of surfactants. Compared with various types of surfactants, cationic surfactants have the most prominent adjusting effect and the strongest bactericidal effect; despite the shortcomings of poor decontamination, poor foaming, poor compatibility, irritation, and expensive, it is not an alternative to other types of surfactants as an adjusting agent component in the high-grade liquid detergents for shampoo shampoo. It is worth noting that cationic surfactants can only be used as conditioning agent components or bactericides.
The application of surfactants can be divided into civil and industrial applications.
According to the data show that: 2/3 of the civil surfactants are used for personal protection products; synthetic detergent is one of the largest markets for surfactant consumption, including laundry detergent, liquid detergent, dishwashing detergent and a variety of household cleaning products and personal protection products, such as: shampoo shampoos, hair conditioners, hair emulsion, hair gel fat, emollient lotion, toner and facial cleanser, and so on.
Industrial surfactants are the sum of surfactants used in various industrial fields other than civil surfactants, and their applications include textile industry, metal industry, coating, paint, pigment industry, plastic resin industry, food industry, paper industry, leather industry, petroleum mining, building materials industry, mining industry, energy industry, etc. The following is a description of several aspects. The following is a description of several aspects.

Application of surfactants in cosmetics
Surfactants are widely used in all kinds of cosmetics as emulsifiers, penetrating agents, detergents, softeners, wetting agents, biocides, dispersants, solubilizers, antistatic agents, hair dyes and so on. Nonionic surfactants are most commonly used in cosmetics because they are non-irritating and easily compatible with other components, generally some fatty acid esters and polyethers.
The composition of cosmetic formulations is diverse and complex, in addition to oil, water raw materials, there are a variety of functional surfactants, preservatives, flavors and colors, etc., is a multi-phase dispersion system. With more and more cosmetic dosage forms and functional requirements, the variety of surfactants used in cosmetics is also increasing. Surfactants used in cosmetics should be non-irritating to the skin, non-toxic side effects, in addition to meet the colorless, no unpleasant odor and high stability requirements.

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