Phase-transfer method synthesis hydroxyethyl cellulose lauryl ether

Evaluating the Role of Hydrophobic and Cationic Appendages on the Laundry Performance of Modified Hydroxyethyl Celluloses

Soil-release polymers (SRPs) are essential additives of laundry detergents whose function is to enable soil release from fabric and to prevent soil redeposition during the washing cycle. The currently used SRPs are petrochemical-based; however, SRPs based on biorenewable polymers would be preferred from an environmental and regulatory perspective. To explore this possibility, we have synthesized SRPs based on hydroxyethyl cellulose (amphiphilic HEC) appended with controlled compositions of hydrophobic and cationic appendages and assessed their cleaning abilities. The results demonstrate that the introduction of hydrophobic lauryl appendages onto the HEC backbone is essential to deliver anti-redeposition and soil-release performance. Conversely, further introduction of cationic groups onto hydrophobic modified HECs had no clear impact on soil-release performance but caused significant disadvantages on anti-redeposition performance. We speculate that this poor performance arises on account of coacervation formation between the cationic HEC polymer and the anionic surfactant in the detergent, negatively impacting soil suspension and suggests that the inclusion of cationic appendages on HECs can ultimately lead to detrimental effects on performance. Interestingly, in contrast to conventional SPRs that exhibit good soil-release performance exclusively on synthetic fabrics, amphiphilic HEC displayed encouraging results on both synthetic and cotton-based textiles, possibly as a result of a good chemical affinity with natural fabrics. This work highlights that the nature and hydrophobic content of HEC ethers are key variables that govern HEC applicability as SRPs, thus paving the way for the design and synthesis of new SRPs.

Enhancing the Stability of Asphalt Emulsion Using Environmentally Friendly Cationically Modified Hydroxyethyl Cellulose (CMHEC) at Different Concentrations and pH Values

The cationically modified hydroxyethyl cellulose (CMHEC) was synthesized successfully and applied for preparing the cationic asphalt emulsion. The apparent viscosity and phase separation of the emulsion were studied at different CMHEC concentrations and pH values. The results indicated that the apparent viscosity of the emulsion was increased with increasing CMHEC concentration, and the phase separation was significantly reduced correspondingly. In addition, the effect of pH value on the emulsion quality was involved. The apparent viscosity of the emulsion showed the tendency to decrease firstly and then increase to the minimum value at pH 2. All results indicated that CMHEC has excellent potential in the manufacture of asphalt emulsion and the research of the pH effect on the formulation of asphalt emulsion has essential significance.

Preparation and anti-leakage properties of hydroxyethyl cellulose-g-poly (butyl acrylate-co-vinyl acetate) emulsion

A hydroxyethyl cellulose-g-poly (butyl acrylate-co-vinyl acetate)(HEC-g-P (BA-co-VAc)) emulsion was synthesized by free radical emulsion polymerization method from hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), butyl acrylate (BA) and vinyl acetate (VAc) in the presence of emulsifier sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS). The structure, thermal stability and morphology of the emulsion were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and other analytical techniques. The results proved that BA and VAc monomers had grafted with HEC. Its thermal stability was also significantly improved compared to HEC. Moreover, the prepared emulsion was evaluated to study the performance of preventing water leakage in soil. Compared with the published anti-leakage materials prepared by directly doping hydroxyethyl cellulose, the emulsion interacted with attapulgite to form a dense consolidation layer, which had better anti-leakage performance and water retention. Therefore, the material was more favorable for popularization and application in arid and semi-arid areas.