Sugar Amide Surfactant Mixtures for Lower Melting Points

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current sugar amide surfactants face limitations in thermal properties, such as high melting point and Krafft point, which restrict their broader application in consumer products, and existing sustainable surfactants have limitations in formulatability, cost, and formulation flexibility.

Innovation Solution

Development of novel mixtures of sugar amides with improved thermal properties, comprising specific chemical structures derived from various sugar sources and fatty esters, allowing for enhanced formulatability and performance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If pure sugar amide surfactants are used, then cleaning performance is achieved, but thermal properties (melting point and Krafft point) are too high, limiting application

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecleaning performanceVSAvoidmelting point and Krafft point
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSTemperature

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple sugar amide surfactants with different thermal properties into a mixture. Specifically, it mixes sugar amides derived from different sugar sources (glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, xylose, arabinose, ribose, cellobiose, chitobiose, starch, cellulose, lignin, or a combination thereof) with different fatty ester chains (C8-C24 alkyl, C10-C24 alkyl, or mixtures). This combining approach allows the individual components to complement each other's thermal properties, resulting in a mixture with improved (lower) melting point and Krafft point while maintaining cleaning effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent systematically varies the chemical parameters of the sugar amide surfactants by using different sugar sources and fatty ester chain lengths. By changing these molecular parameters (糖源种类、脂肪酸链长度), the invention creates a family of surfactant mixtures with optimized thermal properties. The specific combination of sugar head groups and fatty acid tails allows tuning of the thermal characteristics to achieve lower melting points and Krafft points compared to individual components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Object-affected harmful factors

If existing sustainable surfactants are used, then environmental friendliness is improved, but formulatability and formulation flexibility are limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveenvironmental impactVSAvoidformulatability and formulation flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a universal surfactant mixture system that can be applied across multiple consumer product categories. By combining sugar amides from various renewable sources with different fatty ester chains, the invention produces a versatile formulation that can be adapted to different application requirements (laundry detergents, dishwashing liquids, hard surface cleaners, etc.). The mixture's improved thermal properties enable better formulatability across diverse product types while maintaining sustainability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention uses composite material principles by creating a surfactant mixture from multiple natural components (different sugar sources combined with different fatty ester chains). This composite approach leverages the beneficial properties of each component: the renewable sugar head groups provide environmental friendliness, while the varying fatty acid tails contribute to optimal thermal properties and formulation flexibility. The resulting composite surfactant system achieves both sustainability and formulation versatility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

Data Source

PatentEP2964740B1Mixed sugar-based amide surfactant compositions
Publication Date: 2017.10.04 PROCTER & GAMBLE CO
  • EP2964740B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2964740B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2964740B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Novel mixtures of sugar amides or sugar amines are disclosed that have improved thermal properties over the individual components. New feedstocks based on both the surfactant tail as well as the sugar head group allow for improved physical properties of sugar amide surfactant mixtures and thus improved formulatability. Furthermore, new sources of unique methyl esters from both bioengineering and or co-metathesis of fats and oils provide novel and improved sugar amide surfactant mixtures.