Effect of Polymer in a Dishwashing Detergent

Abstract

Abstract Addition of a polymer to a surfactant containing solution occur very frequently. Both compounds are encountered in diverse products such as paints, foods, cosmetics, formulations of drugs and pesticides. The question arises, whether they interact with one another and if they do, in what extent this interaction influences the formulation properties. The scope of this study was simply to point out the advantages and/or the disadvantages of adding polymers in a dishwash liquid detergent. For this purpose we have formulated a dishwashing liquid detergent containing three major ingredients: Sodium laurylether sulfate (LES), Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate (SDS), and Sodium Polyacrylate (SPA). A response surface methodology was set up to find out the effects of each of these ingredients (factors) on the final properties of the liquid detergent (responses). Results show that SPA while providing a better control on viscosity, disadvantageously affects the washing performance.