Detergency of oily soil removal under microemulsion conditions using methyl ester sulfonate

Abstract

Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), the main component in commercial detergents, has been widely used in household washing formulations. However, it causes several problems, such as water pollution (due to its benzene ring structure), and incomplete soil removal (especially oily soil). To solve these problems, methyl ester sulfonate (MES), which is produced from the sulfonation of methyl ester, a biodiesel obtained from palm oil, is considered to be one candidate to replace LAS. because of its biodegradability, and better properties and performance. The main objective of this research was to study some basic properties and the performance of MES, including surface tension, critical micelle concentration (CMC), solubility, foaming, and detergency performance. The experimental results show that the CMC of MES is approximately less than 8 times that of LAS. Furthermore, the foaming property of MES was also comparable to that of LAS. From the detergency results, MES, under microemulsion conditions, provided higher efficiency in oily soil removal than LAS. To enhance the oily soil removal efficiency, an alcohol ethoxylate (AE) was mixed with MES. In the mixed surfactant system, maximum oil removal was obtained at 0.5% w / v total surfactant concentration. ลิเนียร์ อัลคิลเบนซิน ซัลโฟเนท ซึ่งเ