In to days market, custom formulated surfactants are offered for a wide range of applications. The need for surfactants in detergents, cleaning agents, cosmetics & toiletries is second only to an expanding demand in industrial applications. But even within the non-industrial areas the demands have undergone significant changes in recent years. For example, washing and cleaning temperatures have substantially decreased with increased energy conservation attitudes, and more stringent regulatory requirements in the area of ecology and toxicology are leading to new product profiles. New manufacturing technologies and an increased utilization of natural raw materials also factor into this continuing evolution. These changes and trends have been described in numerous publications. However, a summary and survey of these developments is currently missing. The book presented here "Surfactants in Consumer Products" is intended to close this gap. The editor and authors dedicate this work to Dr. Dr. h.c. Konrad Henkel on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Dr. Henkel, himself a scientist and industrialist, contributed signifi cantly to developments in the surfactant field. In the nineteen-fifties, he initiated the change from soap based detergents to synthetic detergents within Henkel. At the same time, dishwashing detergents utilizing various synthetic surfactants were also developed, and became the basis for modem manual and mechanical dishwashing.

Surface Active Agents (surfactants) are vital components in biological systems, form key ingredients in consumer products and play an important role in many industrial processes. For example, cell membranes owe their structure to the aggregation of surfactants known as lipids which form a major component of the membrane. Other natural surfactants occur in the digestive system, in the lungs, and even in such substances as crude oil. Man-made surfactants are used in a wide range of domestic and industrial products and processes. In addition to detergents and personal care products, surfactants have found uses in almost every branch of the chemical industry as well as in several other industries. These include dyestuffs, fibres, mineral process ing, oil field chemicals, paints, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and plastics. Surfactants are versatile materials which are manufactured in a huge variety of forms to suit all of these applications. As a result of their importance, the technical literature on all aspects of surfactant behaviour is now very extensive. Surprisingly, however, the treatment in textbooks has been somewhat fragmented, often in the form of conference proceedings or edited, multi-authored works, both lacking in continuity.

Most modern surfactants are readily biodegradable and exhibit low toxicity in the aquatic environment, the two criteria for green surfactants. However the majority are synthesised from petroleum, so over the past decade the detergent industry has turned its attention to developing greener routes to create these surfactants via renewable building blocks. Surfactants from Renewable Resources presents the latest research and commercial applications in the emerging field of sustainable surfactant chemistry, with emphasis on production technology, surface chemical properties, biodegradability, ecotoxicity, market trends, economic viability and life-cycle analysis. Reviewing traditional sources for renewable surfactants as well as recent advances, this text focuses on techniques with potential for large scale application. Topics covered include: Renewable hydrophobes from natural fatty acids and forest industry by-products Renewable hydrophiles from carbohydrates, amino acids and lactic acid New ways of making renewable building blocks; ethylene from renewable resources and complex mixtures from waste biomass Biosurfactants Surface active polymers This book is a valuable resource for industrial researchers in companies that produce and use surfactants, as well as academic researchers in surface and polymer chemistry, sustainable chemistry and chemical engineering.

From anti-aging creams to make-up, surfactants play a key role as delivery systems for skin care and decorative cosmetic products. Surfactants in Personal Care Products and Decorative Cosmetics, Third Edition presents a scientific basis in surfactant science and recent advances in the industry necessary for understanding, formulating, and te

""Second Edition provides a thorough, up-to-date treatment of the fundamental behavior of surface active agents in solutions, their interaction with biological structures from proteins and membranes to the stratum corneum and epidermis, and their performance in formulations such as shampoos, dentifrice, aerosols, and skin cleansers.

Touted as the new darling of the chemical industry, alkyl polyglycosides are gaining in popularity due to the fact that they are readily biodegradable, low-toxic, and made from renewable resources. Sugar-Based Surfactants compiles the most recent and relevant aspects of sugar-based surfactants, including self-association, phase behavior, and interfacial properties. Focusing on both colloidal and interfacial science, the book deals with the adsorption of surfactants in both the air-liquid and solid-liquid interfaces. It also covers new advances in surfactant science, such as the development of a family of potent surface active agents that are non-toxic, and thus usable in ubiquitous consumer products