A detergent is a material used for cleaning Cleanliness is the absence of dirt, including dust, stains, bad smells and garbage. Purposes of cleanliness include health, beauty, absence of offensive odor, avoidance of shame, and to avoid the spreading of dirt and contaminants to oneself and others. In the case of glass objects such as windows or windshields, the purpose can also be. The term is sometimes used to differentiate between soap Soap is an anionic surfactant used in conjunction with water for washing and cleaning, which historically comes either in solid bars or in the form of a viscous liquid and other surfactants Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lowering of the interfacial tension between two liquids, or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as: detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants used for cleaning.

History

The earliest detergent substance was undoubtedly water; after that, oils, abrasives such as wet sand, and wet clay. The oldest known detergent for wool-washing is stale (putrescent Putrefaction is the decomposition of animal proteins, especially by anaerobic microorganisms, described as putrefying bacteria. Decomposition is a more general process. Putrefaction usually results in amines such as putrescine and cadaverine, which have a putrid odor. Material that is subject to putrefaction is called putrescible) urine Urine is a sterile, liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream. These by-products are eventually expelled from the body in a process known.^[1] For the history of soap Soap is an anionic surfactant used in conjunction with water for washing and cleaning, which historically comes either in solid bars or in the form of a viscous liquid, see the entry thereon. Other detergent surfactants came from saponins Saponins are a class of chemical compounds, one of many secondary metabolites found in natural sources, with saponins found in particular abundance in various plant species. Specifically, they are amphipathic glycosides grouped phenomenologically by the soap-like foaming they produce when shaken in aqueous solutions, and structurally by their and ox bile Bile or gall is a bitter-tasting, dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the process of digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In many species, bile is stored in the gallbladder and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum.

The detergent effects of certain synthetic surfactants were noted in 1913 by A. Reychler, a Belgian chemist. The first commercially available detergent taking advantage of those observations was Nekal,^[2] sold in Germany in 1917, to alleviate World War I World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 15 million people were soap shortages. Detergents were mainly used in industry until World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·. By then new developments and the later conversion of USA aviation fuel Aviation fuel is a specialized type of petroleum-based fuel used to power aircraft. It is generally of a higher quality than fuels used in less critical applications such as heating or road transport, and often contains additives to reduce the risk of icing or explosion due to high temperatures, amongst other properties plants to produce tetrapropylene, used in household Household chemicals are chemicals that are commonly found and used in and around the average household. Food additives generally don't fall under this category, unless they have a use other than for human consumption. In recent times there has been a move away from using household chemicals and towards Green cleaning. Examples: detergents, caused a fast growth of household use in the late 1940s.^[3] In the late 1960s biological detergents A biological detergent is a laundry detergent that contains enzymes. The description is commonly used in the United Kingdom, where other washing detergents are described as "non-biological". The terms are sometimes abbreviated to bio and "non-bio", containing enzymes Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are selective for their, better suited to dissolve protein Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acids in a protein is defined by the sequence of a gene, which is encoded stains, such as egg An egg is a spheroid or ovoid shaped cell laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Eggs have been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen (egg white), and vitellus (egg yolk), contained within various thin membranes stains, were introduced in the USA by Procter & Gamble Procter & Gamble Co. is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. that manufactures a wide range of consumer goods. As of 2008, P&G is the 8th largest corporation in the world by market capitalization and 14th largest US company by profit. In early 2010, P&G reached 4th largest corporation in.^[4]

Just so no one is mistaken water is not a detergent. Detergents have a water and fat soluble or hydrophilic (water soluble) and hydrophobic (fat soluble) ends. Detergents are emulsifing agents meaning they significantly lower the surface tension of (in this case) water to allow whatever it is cleaning (such as oil) to be lifted off the surface and dispersed evenly throughout the continus phase again in the case water. Once the oil is lifted and dispersed it can then be washed away by the water. Also an important fact is that detergents are not biodegradable so they can't be broken down by naturally occuring organisms.

Components

Detergents, especially those made for use with water, often include different components such as:

• Surfactants Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lowering of the interfacial tension between two liquids, or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as: detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants significantly lower the surface tension of the liquid being used to clean such as water, this then allows the stain being cleaned to be lifted and dispersed and then washed away.
• Abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflective surface it can also involve roughening as in satin, matte or beaded finishes to scour
• Substances to modify pH In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It approximates but is not equal to p[H], the negative logarithm of the molar concentration of dissolved hydronium ions (H3O+); a low pH indicates a high concentration of hydronium ions, while a high pH indicates a low concentration. Crudely, this negative of the logarithm or to affect performance or stability of other ingredients, acids An acid is any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion activity greater than in pure water, i.e. a pH less than 7.0 in its standard state. That approximates the modern definition of Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and Martin Lowry, who independently defined an acid as a compound which donates a hydrogen for descaling An anti-scaling agent, also known as descaling agent, anti-limestone, anti-limescale, anti-lime or anti-scale are preparations to prevent the buildup or to remove limescale and fouling. Anti-scaling agent agents usually contain acids such as acetic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfamic acid to remove or caustics A corrosive substance is one that will destroy or irreversibly damage another surface or substance with which it comes into contact. The main hazards to people include damage to the eyes, the skin, and the tissue under the skin; inhalation or ingestion of a corrosive substance can damage the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. Exposure to break down organic compounds
• Water softeners Water softening is the act of reducing the dissolved calcium, magnesium, and to some degree manganese and ferrous iron ion concentration in hard water. A common water softener is sodium carbonate to counteract the effect of "hardness" ions on other ingredients
• oxidants In the above equation, the iron has an oxidation number of 0 before and 3+ after the reaction. For oxygen (O) the oxidation number began as 0 and decreased to 2−. These changes can be viewed as two "half-reactions" that occur concurrently: (oxidizers) for bleaching A bleach is a chemical that removes colors or whitens, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach, a solution of approximately 3–6% sodium hypochlorite , and oxygen bleach, which contains hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound such as sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate, sodium persulfate,, disinfection, and breaking down organic compounds
• Non-surfactant materials that keep dirt in suspension In chemistry, a suspension is a heterogeneous fluid containing solid particles that are sufficiently large for sedimentation. Usually they must be larger than 1 micrometer. The internal phase is dispersed throughout the external phase (fluid) through mechanical agitation, with the use of certain excipients or suspending agents. Unlike colloids,
• Enzymes Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are selective for their to digest proteins Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acids in a protein is defined by the sequence of a gene, which is encoded, fats Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are generally triesters of glycerol and fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure and composition. Although the words "oils", "fats",, or carbohydrates A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the general formula Cmn, that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, with the last two in the 2:1 atom ratio. Carbohydrates can be viewed as hydrates of carbon, hence their name. Structurally however, it is more accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones in stains or to modify fabric feel
• Ingredients that modify the foaming A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping many gaseous bubbles in a liquid or solid properties of the cleaning surfactants, to either stabilize or counteract A defoamer or an anti-foaming agent is a chemical additive that reduces and hinders the formation of foam in industrial process liquids. The terms anti-foam agent and defoamer are often used interchangeably foam
• Ingredients to increase or decrease the viscosity of the solution, or to keep other ingredients in solution, in a detergent supplied as a water solution or gel
• Ingredients that affect aesthetic properties of the item to be cleaned, or of the detergent itself before or during use, such as optical brighteners Optical brighteners, optical brightening agents , fluorescent brightening agents (FBAs) or fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) are dyes that absorb light in the ultraviolet and violet region (usually 340-370nm) of the electromagnetic spectrum, and re-emit light in the blue region (typically 420-470nm). Fluorescent activity is a short term or rapid, fabric softeners, colors, perfumes Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant scent . The odoriferous compounds that make up a perfume can be manufactured synthetically or extracted from plant or animal sources, etc.
• Ingredients such as corrosion inhibitors to counteract damage to equipment with which the detergent is used
• Ingredients to reduce harm or produce benefits to skin, when the detergent is used by bare hand on inanimate objects or used to clean skin
• Preservatives A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetic substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes to prevent spoilage of other ingredients

Sometimes materials more complicated than mere mixtures of compounds are said to be detergent. For instance, certain foods such as celery Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac (var. rapaceum) depending on whether the petioles (stalks) or roots are eaten are said to be detergent or detersive to teeth^{[citation needed]}.

Detergents Types for Cleaning

There are several factors that dictate what compositions of detergent should be used, including the material to be cleaned, the apparatus to be used, and tolerance for and type of dirt. For instance, all of the following are used to clean glass. The sheer range of different detergents that can be used demonstrates the importance of context in the selection of an appropriate glass-cleaning agent:

• a chromic acid Chromic acid generally refers to a collection of compounds generated by the acidification of solutions containing chromate and dichromate anions or the dissolving of chromium trioxide in sulfuric acid. Often the species are assigned the formulas H2CrO4 and H2Cr2O7. The anhydride of these "chromic acids" is chromium trioxide, also called solution—to get glass very clean for certain precision-demanding purposes such as analytical chemistry Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of one or more of these components. The separation of
• a high-foaming mixture of surfactants with low skin irritation—for hand-washing of dishware Dishware is the general term for the dishes used in serving, and eating food, including plates and bowls. Dinnerware is a synonym, especially meaning a set of dishes, including serving pieces in a sink or dishpan
• any of various non-foaming compositions—for dishware in a dishwashing machine A dishwasher is a mechanical device for cleaning dishes and eating utensils. Dishwashers can be found in restaurants and private homes or metal parts in a parts washer
• other surfactant-based compositions—for washing windows with a squeegee, followed by rinsing
• an ammonia Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or indirectly, is also a building block for the synthesis of-containing solution—for cleaning windows with no additional dilution and no rinsing
• ethanol Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a powerful psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. It is best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and thermometers. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as or methanol Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with formula C in windshield The windshield or windscreen (British terminology) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike or tram is the front window. Modern windshields are generally made of laminated safety glass, a type of treated glass, which consists of two (typically) curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and are glued into the window washer fluid Windshield washer fluid (also called windshield wiper fluid, wiper fluid, screen wash , or washer fluid) is a fluid for motor vehicles that is used in cleaning the windshield while the vehicle is being driven—used for a vehicle in motion, with no additional dilution
• glass contact lens A contact lens is a corrective, cosmetic, or therapeutic lens usually placed on the cornea of the eye. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with describing and sketching the first ideas for contact lenses in 1508[citation needed], but it was more than 300 years later before contact lenses were actually fabricated and worn on the eye. Modern soft contact cleaning solutions, which must clean and disinfect without leaving any eye-harming material that would not be easily rinsed

Detergents in Biochemistry and Biotechnology

The term detergent is also used for other applications than cleaning (although the term surfactants Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lowering of the interfacial tension between two liquids, or between a liquid and a solid. In principal there are three types of surfactants: detergents, wetting agents and emulsifiers may be preferable). Detergents are important chemicals notably used in biochemistry Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes in living organisms. It deals with the structures and functions of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules. Over the last 40 years biochemistry has become so successful at explaining living processes that now almost all areas of the life. These water-soluble molecules A molecule is defined as an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from polyatomic ions in this strict sense. In organic chemistry and biochemistry, the term molecule is used less strictly and also is applied to charged organic molecules are classified according to their hydrophilic / hydrophobic character and ionic groups. This effectively drives the pattern of protein / detergents interactions.

• Characteristics

The more or less long hydrophobic tail associates to form micelles, or aggregates, or interacts with other molecules (lipids, proteins).

Ionic detergents are characterized by their charged hydrophilic headgroups, they can be anionic or cationic. Ionic detergents tend to disrupt both inter- and intra-molecular protein-protein interactions. These include SDS, CTBA ...

Non-ionic (or zwitterionic) detergents are characterized by their (net) uncharged, hydrophilic headgroups. They are based on Polyoxyethylene Glycol (i.e. Tween, Triton and Brij series), CHAPS, Glycosides (i.e. Octyl-Thio-Glucoside, Maltosides), Bile Acids such as DOC, Lipids (HEGAs), or Phosphine Oxides.

Special detergents include cleavable detergents.

See surfactants classification and properties.

• Applications

Detergents are used at three essential steps in biochemistry of proteins: extraction, storage, and analysis :

-In solution: detergents help to keep molecules in solution by dissociating aggregates, increasing solubility, and unfolding proteins.

-Detergents are key reagents to extract protein by lysis of the cells and tissues: they disorganize the membranes lipidic bilayer (SDS, Triton X100, X114, CHAPS, DOC, NP-40), and solubilize proteins. Milder detergents such as (OctylThioGlucosides) are used to solubilize sensible proteins (enzymes, receptors). Non-solubilized material is harvested by centrifugation or other means. -For electrophoresis i.e., proteins are classically treated with SDS to denature the native tertiary and quaternary structures, allowing the separation of proteins according to their molecular weight].

See surfactants for more applications.

Terminology

Sometimes the word detergent is used to distinguish a cleaning agent from soap. During the early development of non-soap surfactants as commercial cleaning products, the term syndet, short for synthetic detergent was promoted to indicate the distinction. The term never became popular and is incorrect, because most soap is itself synthesized (from glycerides). The term soapless soap refers to a soap free liquid cleanser with a slightly acidic pH.^[5] Today, soapless soaps are used in an array of products.^[5] There is no universally accepted term for detergents not made of soap other than soapless detergent, non-soap detergent or soap-free cleanser.

The term detergent by itself is sometimes used to refer specifically to laundry detergent, as opposed to hand soap or other types of cleaning agents.

Plain water, if used for cleaning, is a detergent. Probably the most widely-used detergents other than water are soaps or mixtures composed chiefly of soaps. However, not all soaps have significant detergency and, although the words "detergent" and "soap" are sometimes used interchangeably, not every detergent is a soap.

The term detergent is sometimes used to refer to any surfactant, even when it is not used for cleaning.

See also

• Laundry detergent
• Cleavable detergent
• Dispersant

References

1. ^ von Georgievics, Georg; Charles Thomas Colley Salter (1902) (Google books), The chemical technology of textile fibres, Scott, Greenwood, p. 81, http://books.google.com/?id=OtxBAAAAIAAJ
2. ^ Analytical Chemists job description, http://www.123oye.com/job-descriptions/a/analytical-chemist.htm Analytical, retrieved 9 May 2008
3. ^ Spriggs, John (July 1975) (pdf), An economical analysis of the developmente of substitutes with some illustrative examples and implications for the beef industry, Staff paper series, University of Minnesota, pp. 34–37, http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/123456789/22851/1/p75-14.pdf, retrieved 9 May 2008
4. ^ Roald, Arnvid S. & Nicolaas T. DE. Oude, "Granular enzyme-containing laundry composition", US patent 3451935, issued 24 June 1969
5. ^ ^{a b} Tyebkhan G (2002), "Skin cleansing in neonates and infants-basics of cleansers", Indian J Pediatr 69 (9): 767–9, doi:10.1007/BF02723687, PMID 12420908, http://www.springerlink.com/content/61r261h452j3w70m/.

External links

• About.com: How Do Detergents Clean
• US Patent 6472364: Detergent compositions or components

Categories: Cleaning products | Membrane-active molecules

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