PEG-8 Dimethicone a High HLB Silicone Surfactant

corresponding

TONY O’LENICK1*, FENBAO DAVID ZHANG2
*Corresponding author
1. Siltech LLC, Lawrenceville, USA
2. Siltech Corporation, Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Sometimes the best possibility for developing new technology is to look more closely at products that we currently have knowledge of and ask how can we modify these existing products to make new products that have better performance. This type of evaluation often requires we look at a class of compounds  and   compounds of  that are homologues.. A homologue is a compound belonging to a series of compounds differing from each other only in the number of repeating units contained therein (1). So, if you look at Figure 1, homologues would differ only in the number of a, b, x and y units. 


The silicone polymers we examined in this paper are referred to as PEG 8 Dimethicone, specifically one with a high HLB. The formulator must realize that although PEG/PPG dimethicone is a better description than dimethicone copolyols, one cannot ascertain the basic functional properties from the INCI name. This is because there are variations in structure that profoundly affect solubility, surface tension, emulsification, foam and many others. As should become clear, we know a lot about a few compounds in the wide range of possible product, but must learn more about different structural variables within this class.

The polymers examined in this paper have the structure shown in Figure 1 (2).



Much has been written on this class of compounds over the year, however there remains much to discover. What has been agreed upon up until now is;
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