
Lion's commercially viable, proprietary ethoxylation technology consists of fatty alcohol ethoxylate (AE) nonionic surfactants with a narrow ethylene oxide (EO) distribution (NRE: narrow range ethoxylates) and fatty acid methyl ester direct-EO addition-type nonionic surfactants (MEE: methyl ester ethoxylates).
Lion's ethoxylation technology can be developed into EO/PO addition polymers. Narrow range EO/PO (NREP) is a surfactant that boasts superior characteristics derived from tits molecular structure.
In particular, MEE cannot be produced using normal homogenous base catalysts. Instead, MEE is manufactured using fatty acid methyl ester direct-EO addition, which is a technology that enables the efficient use of renewable resources.
NRE boasts superior surfactant performance (including detergency, foaming power, solubility) while being milder than existing products thanks to a desirably high EO distribution content percentage and a minimal amount unreacted alcohol.
In particular, a unique characteristic of NREP is that it is a nonionic surfactant that has both superior foaming and de-foaming properties.
Features as products | Features as surfactants |
---|---|
Minimal amount of unreacted alcohol | Pleasant smell |
Minimal degree of low EO additional components | Higher cloud point Higher solubility,narrowly defined aqueous gel solution range Higher foaming property |
Minimal degree of high EO additional components | Lower melting point Lower viscosity of aqueous solution |
Narrow EO addition distribution | Lower surface tension Superior permeability, solubility and detergency |
In addition, MEE is a highly safe, eco-friendly nonionic surfactant that features surfactant performance (including detergency and foaming properties) equivalent to that of general-purpose alcohol ethoxylate surfactants while boasting favorable solution properties (solubility and low-viscosity). These features are believed to be derived from MEE's bent and curved molecular structure.
MEE has a very narrowly defined gel solution range (hexagonal phase) and exists as a homogenous liquid in almost all stages.