Surfactants and Textile Industry by www.rimpro-india.com

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Welcome To Rimpro India www.rimpro-india.com
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What are Surfactants?
These are compounds that lower the surface
tension of a liquid. Surfactants are organic
compounds that have amphiphilic molecules this
implies that hey have both a hydrophobic and a
hydrophilic group or vice versa. They lower
surface tension between two liquids or a liquid
and a solid. Surfactant may be used as
detergents, wetting agents, forming agents,
emulsifiers and so on. There are different types
of surfactants such as the ethoxylates, fatty
alcohol ethoxylate, fatty acid ethoxylate and
fatty amines ethoxylate.
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What is the Importance of Surfactants in The
Textile Industry?

• In the textile industry surfactants are used for
  three main processes as discussed below.
• Scouring
• Lubrication
• Dying and finishing

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Scouring
Scouring- in the textile industry, scouring for
natural and synthetic fibers is very paramount.
Scouring is aimed at ensuring the fabric is well
prepared and impurities, either man made or
natural are removed.
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Lubrication
Lubrication - after the scouring operation, the
fats in the initial fabric are eliminated. This
implies that materials have to be added which
will serve as lubricants. This is because
lubrication is very important in the spinning,
cording, and weaving operation. Surfactants act
as lubricants and softeners.
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Dying and finishing
Dying and finishing - these process uses most of
the surfactants in the textile industry.
Surfactants act as wetting agents, dying agents
and as penetrates.   These are the major uses of
surfactants in the textile industry amongst many
more uses. This shows that surfactants play a
very important role in the textile industry.
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Various Surfactants used in the Textile Industry

• There are many types of surfactants, below are
  some of the surfactants that are used in the
  textile industry.
• Ethoxylates
• Fatty Alcohol Ethoxylate
• Fatty Acid Ethoxylate
• Fatty Amines Ethoxylate

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Ethoxylates
Ethoxylates - These are produced from the
ethoxylation processes. In the textile
industries, the ethoxylates are used for
scouring, lubricating, finishing and dying of the
fabrics.
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Fatty Alcohol Ethoxylate
Fatty Alcohol Ethoxylate - These range from clear
yellowish liquids to wax solids, depending on
their length of the alkyl chain. Fatty alcohol
ethoxylates are used for scouring and emulsifying
in the textile industry. They are also used in
dye leveling and as wetting agents. The major
function of fatty alcohol ethoxylates is
emulsification.
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Fatty Acid Ethoxylate
Fatty Acid Ethoxylate - They are used as non
ionic surfactants in a number of processes in the
textile industry. Fatty acid ethoxylates are used
as emulsifiers, water softeners, wetting agents
and as spin dying agents.
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Fatty Amines Ethoxylate
Fatty Amines Ethoxylate - They are good oil
emulsifiers, and dye dispersants. They are also
good as wetting agents. Fatty amine ethoxylates
are important in the textile industry in for they
act as fiber lubricants and also as dying agents.
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263242 Email info_at_rimpro-india.com
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Rimpro India