Nonylcyclohexanol ethoxylates, a green alternative of nonylphenol ethoxylate, on the interfacial physiochemical properties aspects

Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEOn), typically NPEO10, are the second popular nonionic surfactants that have been banned or restricted from use and production by Europe since 1990 due to their poor degradability and high genetic toxicity. The hypothesis of this work is that the nonylcyclohexanol ethoxylates (NCEOn) may possess similar interfacial properties but lower biotoxicity and better biodegradability compared with NPEOn according to their structures. To verify this and to find the optimal alternative of NPEO10, the interfacial properties of NCEOn were compared with the typical commercial ethoxylates nonionic surfactants, such as nonylphenol ethoxylated-10 (NPEO10), alcohol ethoxylated-9 (AEO(9)), secondary alcohol ethoxylated-9 (SAE(9)), and isomeric alcohol ethoxylated-9 (TO9). It is the NCEO7 that shows excellent emulsifying ability similar to that of NPEO10. NCEO11 performed stronger detergency than other assayed commercial nonionic surfactants. Additionally, NCEOn possessed lower biological toxicity to aquatic organisms. Hence, NCEOn could be considered as a green substitute for NPEOn in the assayed application fields.