SLES help
loopster
Im trying to duplicate an experiment that requires 0.35% w/v of sodium
laureth sulfate. I have been looking around on the web for SLES but it is
listed in so many different 'configurations' for lack of a better word. For
example:
POLYSTEP® B-12
Actives, % 60
Chemical Description Sodium Laureth Sulfate, 4 EO
POLYSTEP® B-19
Actives, % 29
Chemical Description Sodium Laureth Sulfate
STEOL® CS-330
Actives, % 28
Chemical Description Sodium Laureth Sulfate
STEOL® 23-2S/70
Actives, % 70
Chemical Description Sodium Laureth Sulfate
And on and on and on...
I guess my 1st question is... what are "actives" ?
Is SLES commonly sold as a diluted solution with actives meaning the %
concentration of SLES in solution ? ...or..is SLES naturally a liquid and
its approximately 100% SLES but only a % of the SLES is active and the
other % is inactive SLES ?
If its the latter...how would one know if the experimenter used .35%w/v of
20% actives SLES or 30% or 70% etc ? Or would he be using .35% of the active
portion ?
...or is SLES a powder and I just cant find it ?
Sorry for the dumb questions....my chemistry knowledge is limited as you can
probably tell. :)
Any help would be a appreciated
Thanks
D
Marvin Margoshes
"loopster" <bugl...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:A4f1c.672601$X%5.657304@pd7tw2no...
I'd guess you looked in a list of products that include SLES as an
ingredient. It is in, for example, many hand creams and shampoos.
loopster
Hi Marvin
Thanks for the reply.
No Im referring to chemical suppliers. I am aware that SLES is common
in shampoos and soaps.
Im talking about chem suppliers like that sell SLES.
http://www.chemron.com/Products/Household/sulfochem.htm
http://www.stepan.com/en/products/chemical_group_search.asp?id=129
http://www.parachem.com/sursoap_anionic.htm
http://www.pilotchemical.com/personal.htm
http://www.oilchem.com/prod_list.cfm?ind=personal&type=Anionic%20Surfactants
Thanks
HLS
It is common to sell these types of surfactants as solutions in water,
alcohols, etc.
'Actives' means the percent of the surfactant in that solution. Don't
expect that
the 'actives' will be analytically pure. Your 4 mol EO version might
contain a distribution of mol weights averaging about 4.
> Is SLES commonly sold as a diluted solution with actives meaning the %
> concentration of SLES in solution ?
That's it.
You might have to standardize your commercial surfactant if you have some
very exacting application in mind.
Some time ago, I needed an alcohol ethoxylate for a project and two
suppliers responded. Both submitted, let us say, 4 mol adducts. They
performed very very differently however.
Upon analysis, I found one had a more or less Gaussian distribution of EO,
averaging abut 4 mols. The other had a considerable concentration of
unreacted fatty alcohol blended with an alkoxylate stream to yield an
apparent 4 mol adduct.
Does this help any?
loopster
I still cant get my head around a couple more things though. If SLES is
commonly sold in a number of different concentrations with varying numbers
of mols like for example:
* SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => liquid(26%) as 2moles
* SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => liquid(28%) as 3moles
* SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => paste(70%) as 3moles
* SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => paste(70%) as 2moles
..and an experiment calls for 0.35% w/v of SLES how do we know exactly what
0.35% is? If its 0.35% of the whole solution(actives and inactives) then we
have no idea exactly how much SLES was used.
...or when such experiments are conducted is it usually only the actives
part that makes up the 0.35% . So using a 70% concentration as an example
would you actually use 0.5 grams of 70% SLES of in 100ml of solvent to give
you a 0.35% concentration of active SLES ?
Thanks again!
"HLS" <Sorry@nospam> wrote in message
news:104e5ge...@corp.supernews.com...
Colthechemist
> Thanks HLS that helps immensely!
>
> I still cant get my head around a couple more things though. If SLES is
> commonly sold in a number of different concentrations with varying numbers
> of mols like for example:
> * SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => liquid(26%) as 2moles
> * SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => liquid(28%) as 3moles
> * SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => paste(70%) as 3moles
> * SLES(Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate) => paste(70%) as 2moles
>
> ..and an experiment calls for 0.35% w/v of SLES how do we know exactly what
> 0.35% is? If its 0.35% of the whole solution(actives and inactives)
then we
> have no idea exactly how much SLES was used.
>
> ...or when such experiments are conducted is it usually only the actives
> part that makes up the 0.35% . So using a 70% concentration as an example
> would you actually use 0.5 grams of 70% SLES of in 100ml of solvent to give
> you a 0.35% concentration of active SLES ?
> Thanks again!
>
wHA
loopster
I just need help with a couple more things. If I understand correctly
SLES can be a number of different molecular weights and have a number
of different properties depending on the number of moles of ethylene
oxide.
CH3-(CH2)11-(O-CH2-CH2)n-O-(SO3)-Na
I often see SLES being sold as either 1,2,or 3 moles or 1,2 or 3 "EO"
moles.
So my question is ....are they always referring to the number of EO
moles when they simply state moles or the total number of moles?
I would assume its always the number of EO moles because if it were
the number of SLES moles we wouldnt know how much SLES we are getting
if EO=n. I guess one could sell 2 moles of SLES with 2 moles of EO but
I never see it sold that way...always one way or the other.
Thanks again!
loopster
col...@bigfoot.com (Colthechemist) wrote in message news:<b42173fb.04030...@posting.google.com>...
loopster
"loopster" <bugl...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9e04fab8.04030...@posting.google.com...
Colthechemist
There are simple titration methods for SLES , which as you have
discovered, varies widely from supplier to supplier. If you know the
average EO then it's easy to calculate the average M Wt.
"loopster" <bugl...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<vyy3c.10897$Up2.7339@pd7tw1no>...