Potential of some surfactant mixtures for production of eco-friendly detergents used in seawater

Abstract

Mixtures of surfactants are the most important ingredients which are combined to improve the application properties of liquid detergent. In this study, we evaluated the biological, chemical, and physical properties of various mixtures of anionic, non-ionic, and amphoteric surfactants. The results showed that the SAM5 formulation, consisting of SLES/AOS/CAPB and APG (70:15:5:10, w/w/w/w), was the highest cleaning effective in removing petroleum oily residues in seawater (94.78%). Among six formulations, SAM5 presented the best performance with highly foaming volume (335 mL), good foam stability (95.52%), and low surface tension (24.17 mN/m), readily biodegradable, and corrosion resistance ability. SAM5 formulation is used for further research and application in manufacturing a new liquid detergent used in seawater to remove petrolium oily residues.