Surfactant mixture containing short-chain and also long-chain components

Abstract

The present invention relates to a surfactant mixture comprising (A) a short-chain component comprising the alkoxylation product of alkanols, where the alkanols have 8 to 12 carbon atoms and the average number of alkoxy groups per alkanol group in the alkoxylation product assumes a value from 3 to 30 and the alkoxy groups are chosen from the group consisting of ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy and pentoxy groups and the alkanols have an average degree of branching of at least 1; and (B) a long-chain component comprising the alkoxylation product of alkanols where the alkanols have 13 to 20 carbon atoms and the average number of alkoxy groups per alkanol group in the alkoxylation product assumes a value from 3 to 30 and the alkoxy groups are chosen from the group consisting of ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy and pentoxy groups and the alkanols have an average degree of branching of from 0.0 to 0.3; and phosphate esters, sulfate esters and ether carboxylates thereof. In addition, the present invention relates to a formulation comprising such surfactant mixtures, and to the use of these, for example for the cleaning of hard surfaces.

1 . A surfactant mixture comprising
 (A) a short-chain component comprising the alkoxylation product of alkanols, where the alkanols have 8 to 12 carbon atoms and the average number of alkoxy groups per alkanol group in the alkoxylation product assumes a value from 3 to 30 and the alkoxy groups are chosen from the group consisting of ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy and pentoxy groups and the alkanols have an average degree of branching of at least 1; and   (B) a long-chain component comprising the alkoxylation product of alkanols where the alkanols have 13 to 20 carbon atoms and the average number of alkoxy groups per alkanol group in the alkoxylation product assumes a value from 3 to 30 and the alkoxy groups are chosen from the group consisting of ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy and pentoxy groups and the alkanols have an average degree of branching of from 0.0 to 0.3;   
     and phosphate, sulfate esters and ether carboxylates thereof. 
   
   
       2 . The surfactant mixture according to  claim 1 , wherein for the short-chain component (A) and/or the long-chain component (B), the fraction of ethoxy groups relative to the total number of alkoxy groups for the particular alkoxylation product is at least 0.5. 
   
   
       3 . The surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  2 , wherein the at least one alkanol of the long-chain component (B) has 16 to 20 carbon atoms. 
   
   
       4 . The surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  3 , wherein the at least one alkanol of the short-chain component (A) has an average degree of branching of from 1.0 to 2.0. 
   
   
       5 . The surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  4 , wherein the ratio of the weight fraction of the short-chain component (A) in the surfactant mixture to the weight fraction of the long-chain component (B) in the surfactant mixture assumes a value in the range from 99:1 to 1:99. 
   
   
       6 . The surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  5 , which has a HLB value according to Griffin in the range from 10 to 15. 
   
   
       7 . A formulation comprising a surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  6 . 
   
   
       8 . A method of producing a surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  6 , comprising the steps:
 (a) alkoxylation of an alkanol mixture, where the alkanol mixture has 8 to 12 carbon atoms and the average number of alkoxy groups per alkanol group in the alkoxylation product assumes a value from 3 to 30 and the alkoxy groups are chosen from the group consisting of ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy and pentoxy groups and the alkanol mixture has an average degree of branching of at least 1;   (b) alkoxylation of an alkanol mixture, where the alkanol mixture has 13 to 20 carbon atoms and the average number of alkoxy groups per alkanol group in the alkoxylation product assumes a value from 3 to 30 and the alkoxy groups are chosen from the group consisting of ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy and pentoxy groups and the alkanol mixture has an average degree of branching of from 0.0 to 0.3; and   (c) mixing the alkoxylation products obtained in step (a) and (b).   
   
   
       9 . A method of producing a surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  6 , comprising the steps
 (a) mixing a first alkanol mixture which has 8 to 12 carbon atoms and an average degree of branching of at least 1 with at least one second alkanol mixture which has 13 to 20 carbon atoms and an average degree of branching of from 0.0 to 0.3; and   (b) alkoxylation of the mixture of the first and second mixture, where the number of alkoxy groups per alkanol group in the alkoxylation product assumes an average value of from 3 to 30 and the alkoxy groups are chosen from the group consisting of ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy and pentoxy groups.   
   
   
       10 . The use of a surfactant mixture according to one of  claims 1  to  6  or of a formulation according to  claim 7  as emulsifier, foam regulator, wetting agent, in particular for hard surfaces, humectant. 
   
   
       11 . The use according to  claim 10  in detergents, for the cleaning of hard surfaces, in cosmetic, pharmaceutical and crop protection formulations, paints, coating compositions, adhesives, leather-degreasing compositions, for the textile industry, fiber processing, metal processing, food industry, water treatment, paper industry, fermentation or mineral processing and in emulsion polymerizations.