What is ethoxylation?
Ethoxylation is a chemical process used in industry to create surface active substances, which are compounds that reduce the surface tension of liquids. The ethoxylation process involves the addition of ethylenoxide to alcohol or phenol for the production of products. Many products produced by EThoxylation have commercial applications and some are used in biochemistry and medicine. While most of the surfaces can be widely used, others are dangerous to humans and the environment and in some countries their use is limited.
compounds that are commonly et -oscillations include nonylphenol, amines, fatty acids and fatty alcohols. The catalyst, such as potassium hydroxide, must usually be added together with ethylenoxide to help speed up the ethoxylation reaction. Some compounds, such as lactic acid and 12-hydroxy acid, may be etoxyluished without catalyst. Different reactions steps can take place in different blood vesselsor in one large reactor. The design of the reaction depends on efficiency. Industrial chemists often directly monitor the ethoxylation process and make adjustments to increase productivity.
Ethoxylation products are known as ethoxylated materials or surfaces. These are organic compounds that contain both hydrophilic (waterproof) and hydrophobic (water repeated) groups. Surface active substances change the surface properties of liquids because their structure causes them to migrate on the limit interface of the liquid. For example, in water, the surfaces will migrate on the edge of air water, but in the oil water mixture, the surfaces are migrated to the boundary of the oil water. The term surface active substance is a shortened version of the term surface of effect , reflects this behavior.
surface active substances can be found in detergents, shampoos, colors, inkeH, pesticides and many other commercial products. They are usually used as emulsifiers, causing otherwise non -mixed liquids mixing or foaming substances and cleaners. Some surface active substances have biochemical applications and are used to extraction of proteins from cells or form soluble proteins.
A specific type of ethoxylation, known as pegylace, is used in medicine to promote the supply of a drug in the body. In pegylating, the chains of polyethylene glycol are attached to the therapeutic protein or drug. This prevents the body's immune system from recognizing and attacking medicine or protein, as well as it allows normally insoluble drugs to be soluble in water.
Some ethoxylated materials can be dangerous and are currently regulated by some government agencies. Nonylphenol Ethoxylaates (NPES) used in pesticides, industrial detergents and some SELDU -cleaning can reach groundwater and soil throughsewage system. NPE has toxic effects on water life and, moreover, cause reproductive problems in animals. The fear of the possibility that NPES can migrate agricultural land into human food has led to the fact that their use was limited in several countries.