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Since their entry into industrial production in the 1940s, surfactants have been widely used and are praised as the "MSG of industry." Surfactant molecules possess amphiphilic characteristics, enabling them to accumulate at surfaces in aqueous solutions, significantly altering solution properties. Depending on the ratio of hydrophilic to hydrophobic segments and the molecular structure, surfactants exhibit different properties. They have a range of physicochemical characteristics, including dispersion, wetting or anti-sticking, emulsification or demulsification, foaming or defoaming, solubilization, washing, preservation, and antistatic effects. These fundamental properties are crucial for textile dyeing and processing. Statistics indicate that over 3,000 types of surfactants are utilized in the textile industry, which is essential throughout the production processes, including fiber refining, spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, and finishing. Their role is to enhance the quality of textiles, improve the weaving performance of yarns, and shorten processing times; thus, surfactants contribute significantly to the textile industry.

 

1. Applications of Surfactants in the Textile Industry

 

1.1 Washing Process

In the washing process of textile processing, it is essential to consider not only the washing effect but also the softness of the fabric and potential fading issues. Therefore, the development of new surfactants that provide good cleaning efficacy while maintaining the softness and color stability of the fabric has become a key focus of surfactant research today. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and the stringent international environmental certification barriers faced by textile exports, developing efficient, low-irritation, and easily biodegradable detergents has become an urgent issue in the textile industry.

1.2 Dye Processing

Surfactants serve multifaceted roles, functioning both as dispersants for dye processing and as leveling agents in dyeing. Currently, anionic surfactants are primarily used as dispersants, including naphthalene sulfonate-formaldehyde condensates and lignin sulfonates. Nonionic surfactants like nonylphenol ethoxylates are often blended with other types of surfactants. Cationic and zwitterionic surfactants have some limitations in application. As new dyeing technologies, such as microwave dyeing, foam dyeing, digital printing, and supercritical fluid dyeing, mature, the requirements for leveling agents and dispersants have become more demanding.

1.3 Softening Agents

Before dyeing and finishing, textiles usually undergo pretreatments like scouring and bleaching, which can result in a rough hand feel. To impart a durable, smooth, and soft hand, softening agents—most of which are surfactants—are necessary. Anionic softening agents have been in use for a long time but face challenges in adsorption due to the negative charge on fibers in water, resulting in weaker softening effects. Some types are suited for use in textile oils as softening components, including sulfosuccinate and sulfated castor oil.

Nonionic softening agents produce hand feel similar to anionic ones without causing dye discoloration; they can be used with anionic or cationic softening agents but have poor fiber adsorption and low durability. They are primarily applied in post-finishing of cellulosic fibers and as softening and smoothing components in synthetic fiber oil agents. Classes such as pentaerythritol fatty acid esters and sorbitan fatty acid esters are important, significantly reducing the coefficient of friction for cellulosic and synthetic fibers.

Cationic surfactants exhibit strong binding with various fibers, are heat-resistant and withstand washing, providing a rich and soft hand feel. They also impart antistatic properties and good antibacterial effects, making them the most important and widely used softening agents. The majority of cationic surfactants are nitrogen-containing compounds, commonly including quarternary ammonium salts. Among them, dihydroxyethyl quaternary ammonium compounds stand out for their exceptional softening performance, achieving ideal results with just 0.1% to 0.2% use, in addition to wetting and antistatic functions, although they are large and pose biodegradation challenges. A new generation of green products typically contains surfactants with ester, amide, or hydroxyl groups that are easily biodegradable by microorganisms into fatty acids, thereby minimizing environmental impact.

1.4 Antistatic Agents

To eliminate or prevent static electricity generated during various textile processes and in the fabric finishing process, antistatic agents are required. Their primary function is to impart moisture retention and ionic properties to fiber surfaces, reducing insulating properties and increasing conductivity to neutralize charges and eliminate or prevent static electricity. Among surfactants, anionic antistatic agents are the most diverse. Sulfated oils, fatty acids, and high-carbon fatty alcohols can provide antistatic, softening, lubrication, and emulsifying properties. Alkyl sulfates, especially ammonium salts and ethanolamine salts, have higher antistatic efficacy.

Moreover, alkylphenol ethoxylate sulfates stand out among anionic antistatic agents for their superior performance. Generally, cationic surfactants are not only effective antistatic agents but also offer excellent lubricating properties and fiber adhesion. Their drawbacks include potential dye discoloration, reduced lightfastness, incompatibility with anionic surfactants, metal corrosion, high toxicity, and skin irritation, limiting their usage mainly to fabric finishing rather than oil agents. Cationic surfactants used as antistatic agents primarily consist of quaternary ammonium compounds and fatty acid amides. Zwitterionic surfactants, such as betaines, provide good antistatic effects and lubrication, emulsifying, and dispersing properties.

Nonionic surfactants exhibit strong moisture retention and are suitable for low humidity conditions of fibers. They typically do not affect dye performance and can adjust viscosity over a broad range, presenting low toxicity and minimal skin irritation, which facilitates their wide usage as key components in synthetic oils—mainly fatty alcohol ethoxylates and fatty acid polyethylene glycol esters.

1.5 Penetrants and Wetting Agents

Penetrants and wetting agents are additives that promote the rapid wetting of fiber or fabric surfaces with water and facilitate the penetration of liquids into the fiber structure. Surfactants that allow liquids to penetrate or accelerate the penetration of liquid into porous solids are termed penetrants. Penetration is contingent on adequate wetting first occurring. Wetting refers to the degree to which a liquid spreads over a solid surface upon contact. Therefore, penetrants and wetting agents are utilized not only in pre-treatment processes such as desizing, boiling, mercerizing, and bleaching but also widely in printing and finishing processes.

The characteristics required of penetrants and wetting agents include: 1) resistance to hard water and alkali; 2) strong penetration ability to shorten processing time; 3) significant improvement of the capillarity of treated fabrics. Cationic surfactants are unsuitable as wetting agents because they can adsorb onto fibers and hinder wetting. Zwitterionic surfactants have certain limitations in application. Hence, the surfactants used as penetrants and wetting agents mainly consist of anionic and nonionic surfactants. Additionally, surfactants in the textile industry are also utilized as refining agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, smoothing agents, fixing agents, and water repellents.

Alkyl polyglucoside (APG) is a bio-surfactant synthesized from natural fatty alcohols and glucose derived from renewable resources. It is a new type of nonionic surfactant with comprehensive performance, combining the properties of both conventional nonionic and anionic surfactants. It is recognized internationally as a preferred "green" functional surfactant, characterized by high surface activity, good ecological safety, and solubility.