Laundry Sheet Surfactant System for Solubility and Skin Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing laundry detergents face issues such as dust creation with powder detergents and inconvenience and leakage with liquid detergents, while sheet-type detergents may cause skin irritation and have poor solubility.
Innovation Solution
A laundry sheet made from polyvinyl alcohol or a polyvinyl-alcohol-based copolymer, containing a combination of surfactants including C8-C18 alkyl sulfate alkali metal salts and fatty acid alkyl ester alkoxylates, which provides high cleaning power, low skin irritation, and improved solubility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a sheet-type detergent is used, then convenience and portability are improved, but solubility and skin irritation issues worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the surfactant system by using specific ratios of anionic surfactants (alkyl sulfates) combined with nonionic surfactants (fatty acid alkyl ester alkoxylates). This parameter optimization enables complete solubility in water while maintaining sheet form stability, resolving the contradiction between sheet convenience and solubility reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite surfactant system combining multiple surfactant types (anionic and nonionic) in specific proportions. This composite approach leverages the solubility benefits of nonionic surfactants while maintaining the cleaning efficacy of anionic surfactants, achieving both sheet integrity and complete solubility without skin irritation.
2Ease of operation
If a sheet-type detergent is used, then convenience and portability are improved, but skin irritation and damage worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the pH-related parameters by selecting surfactants with milder properties and controlling the composition ratios. The combination of alkyl sulfate alkali metal salts with fatty acid alkyl ester alkoxylates creates a surfactant system that is effective for cleaning while being gentler on skin, reducing irritation while maintaining the convenient sheet format.
3Power
If liquid detergent is used, then cleaning power is improved, but transport convenience and leakage resistance worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes phase transition by formulating liquid detergent components into a solid sheet structure. The surfactant mixture, which would normally be liquid, is incorporated into a water-soluble sheet matrix that provides solid-form convenience for transport and handling, while the surfactants themselves maintain their liquid-phase cleaning effectiveness when dissolved in water during use.
4Power
If powder detergent is used, then cleaning power is improved, but dust creation worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies phase transition by converting the traditional powder detergent form into a solid sheet structure. This phase change eliminates the dust generation problem inherent in powder detergents while the sheet dissolves in water to release the cleaning agents, maintaining effective cleaning power without creating airborne dust particles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution offers a convenient, effective, and skin-friendly laundry sheet with superior cleaning power and solubility, reducing the drawbacks of previous detergent forms.
Implementation Method 1
a laundry sheet manufactured using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or a polyvinyl-alcohol-based copolymer... which is completely dissolved in water
Implementation Method 2
the surfactant includes a main surfactant and a cosurfactant, the main surfactant includes a first main surfactant and a second main surfactant... each of the first main surfactant and the second main surfactant independently including a C8-C18 alkyl sulfate alkali metal salt, and the cosurfactant includes two or more different surfactants, one of which is fatty acid alkyl ester alkoxylate and the remaining one of which is a nonionic surfactant
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a laundry sheet manufactured using polyvinyl alcohol or a polyvinyl-alcohol-based copolymer and containing a surfactant, in which the surfactant includes a main surfactant and a cosurfactant. The main surfactant includes a first main surfactant and a second main surfactant, and the first main surfactant and the second main surfactant are different from each other, each of the first main surfactant and the second main surfactant independently including a C8-C18 alkyl sulfate alkali metal salt. The cosurfactant includes two or more different surfactants, one of which is fatty acid alkyl ester alkoxylate and the remaining one of which is a nonionic surfactant.