Development of Environmentally Friendly Materials: Cationic Surfactant

In the area of material development, Kao is pursuing the development of environmentally compatible and safe materials featuring carbon-neutral biomass-based ingredients.

Chemicals that are released into the environment should be readily biodegradable (quickly broken down by microorganisms) and pose minimal harm to aquatic organisms. Kao is answering that need by using molecular design to develop materials chemically structured to ensure biodegradability and minimal toxicity after release, together with superior product performance.

A good example is our development of an environmentally friendly cationic surfactant for use as a hair conditioner base. We synthesized and studied a large number of cationic surfactants to understand how molecular structure affects biodegradability and aquatic toxicity. By thoroughly studying the different effects of such variables as the length of the long-chain alkyl group and differences in the molecular structure of the other functional groups, we found that longer alkyl chains than those commonly used had the effect of reducing aquatic toxicity and the structure of amidopropyl amine salt enhanced biodegradability. These discoveries led to the design of a new, environmentally friendly cationic surfactant for use in hair conditioners. While exhibiting excellent hair-conditioning performance, the agent features 100% biodegradability and substantially lower aquatic toxicity than existing cationic surfactants.

As an exceptionally earth-friendly surfactant, our hair-conditioning base is now widely used in Japan and overseas.

Note: Biodegradability evaluated in accordance with OECD 301B; aquatic toxicity evaluated in accordance with OECD 201, 202, and 203.
Yamane, M. et al. J. Oleo Sci. 57 (10), 529-538 (2008).