Organic builders: A review of worldwide efforts to find organic replacements for detergent phosphates

Crutchfield, M. M.

doi:10.1007/bf02673391

Cited by 56 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(1 reference statement)

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“…Recent work on oligomers of polyacrylic acid and maleic acid indicates that eight carboxyl groups are the upper limit for biodegradable polycarboxylates (47). Even so, our experience with the slowly degraded 3,6-dioxaoctane-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexacarboxylic acid (tartrate disuccinate) and that of others (10,11) shows that the upper limit for ether polycarboxylates may be four carboxyl groups. Acetal carboxylates should be biodegradable as long as (i) the two hydroxy acids joined by the acetal have four or fewer carboxyl groups and (ii) the acetal hydrolyzes at pH 7.…”

Section: Biodegradation and Toxicitymentioning

confidence: 91%

Small‐molecule polycarboxylate builders

Heinzman

1998

J Surfact & Detergents

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Small ether polycarboxylate and acetal polycarboxylate builders are reviewed with respect to their synthesis, calcium and magnesium sequestration, and biodegradation. JSD 1, 105-108 (1998).KEY WORDS: Biodegradation, builder, calcium, ether or acetal polycarboxylate, magnesium, stability or binding constants.Builders have several functions in detergents: sequestration of calcium and magnesium, peptization and suspension of soil, and inhibition of inorganic incrustation. The first is most important, but most difficult to achieve. It is most important because the other functions are accomplished if free hardness is below 10 −5 mol/L (1,2). In this hardness regime, surfactants are not precipitated, flocculation of soils by calcium is reversed, and calcium carbonate is dissolved.Effective sequestration is most difficult to achieve because of the number of criteria that must be met: a calcium binding constant greater than about 10 5 [depending on the builder-to-hardness ratio (3)], weight efficiency, bleach stability, low cost, ready biodegradability, and low toxicity for humans and aquatic life. Small-molecule polycarboxylates composed only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen can potentially meet all these criteria as well as avoid the toxicological and metal mobilization issues of nitrogen-containing builders, such as nitrilotriacetic acid (4). In liquid formulations, they are soluble and chemically stable, and effectively bind calcium at the lower wash pH.At present, citric acid is the only small-molecule polycarboxylate builder in commercial use, even though it does not meet the sequestration criteria and is not low-cost. Current formulations are designed around two lower-cost builders: zeolite A, in granular detergents, and fatty acid, in liquid detergents. Citric acid is well suited as a cobuilder in both cases. While ion exchange in zeolites and calcium precipitation of fatty acid can be slow, citrate can reduce free hardness levels rapidly. It also binds magnesium effectively (which zeolite A does not) and can shuttle calcium from wash solution to zeolite A (5,6). Nonetheless, the zeolite A/citric acid builder system does not achieve the low free hardness levels required for good soil suspension/peptization and prevention of incrustation, so polymeric dispersants are added. The surfactant system is also adjusted to be more calcium-tolerant.A small-molecule polycarboxylate builder has yet to be found that can replace zeolite A and fatty acid. The primary reason is high cost. Nevertheless, much has been learned about builder design and will be relayed in this review. Synthesis will be covered in depth because of its impact on cost. SEQUESTRATION OF CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUMDesign principles can be stated as follows: at least three 5-or 6-membered chelate rings are necessary; oxygen substituents are preferred in the following order: carboxylate > ether > hydroxyl > acetal; and at least three carboxylate groups are required. Stereochemistry of the chelate rings should avoid strong steric interactions. The principles can be...

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Section: Biodegradation and Toxicitymentioning

confidence: 91%

Small‐molecule polycarboxylate builders

Heinzman

1998

J Surfact & Detergents

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“…3 Preparation of partially dicarboxylated amylopectin (11,19). 3 Preparation of partially dicarboxylated amylopectin (11,19).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 4 shows the GPC profiles of DCAp 40000 (14) before and after the anaerobic biodegradation test. Molecular weight reduction, caused by the enzymatically hydrolytic cleavage~ is given by: molecular weight reduction (%) = 100 X (i -MI/M 0 [3] where Mo is the initial molecular weight (maximum of the GPC peak) and M1, is the molecular weight after enzymatic degradation for 1 h (maximum of the GPC peak). The main chain of DCAp was also biodegraded to yield low-molecularweight fractions, with subsequent assimilation without further lowering of the molecular weight.…”

Section: Toc281toc0)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The polymers were all biodegraded under anaerobic conditions. Polymeric polycarboxylates have been investigated as STPP substitutes, and a number of polyelectrolytes have been reported to exhibit excellent builder performances in detergent formulations (1)(2)(3). GPC profiles also show that the high-molecular weight fractions were biodegraded as well as the low-molecular weight fractions of the polymer.…”

Section: Toc281toc0)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High-molecular weight polycarboxylates have been considered attractive as water-soluble functional polymers, including dispersants and detergent builders (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7). However, they are generally highly resistant to biodegradation, which is an important criterion in large-scale application in the industrial field.…”

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Builder performance in detergent formulations and biodegradability of partially dicarboxylated amylopectin

Matsumura¹,

Aoki²,

Toshima³

1994

J Americ Oil Chem Soc

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SUMMARYPoly(sodium carboxy1ate)s containing varying amounts of unreacted sugar residues as biodegradable segments in the polymer backbone were prepared by the partial oxidation of amylose and cellulose using periodic acidkhlorite. It was found that dicarboxy polysaccharides containing sugar residues showed improved biodegradability comparing to those having no sugar blocks in the polymer chain, and their biodegradability varied according to the glucopyranose content or the degree of dicarboxylation. Dicarboxy polysaccharides containing more than 60% glucopyranose residues tended to biodegrade quickly. When compared on an equal glucopyranose content basis, the biodegradability of dicarboxy amylose (2 b) was slightly superior to

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Water-soluble copolymers. I. Biodegradability and functionality of poly[(sodium acrylate)-co-(4-vinylpyridine)]

Peng

Shen

1999

J. Appl. Polym. Sci.

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ABSTRACT:As a biodegradable functional polymer, poly[(sodium acrylate)-co-(4-vinylpyridine)] [P(SA-co-4VP)] containing a small amounts of 4-vinylpyridine groups were prepared and their biodegradability, dispersity, and complex performance were analyzed. The polymers can be useful as detergent builders and dispersants. It was found that the biodegradation of P(SA-co-4VP) was more conspicuous when content of the 4-vinylpyridine in the copolymer was larger. This indicates that the 4-vinylpyridine, which acts as biodegradable segments, should be incorporated into the polymer main chain in such a manner that they are digested by activated sludge.

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Organic builders: A review of worldwide efforts to find organic replacements for detergent phosphates

Cited by 56 publications

References 5 publications

Small‐molecule polycarboxylate builders

Small‐molecule polycarboxylate builders

Builder performance in detergent formulations and biodegradability of partially dicarboxylated amylopectin

Water-soluble copolymers. I. Biodegradability and functionality of poly[(sodium acrylate)-co-(4-vinylpyridine)]

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