Polyether L-42 (also known as Poloxamer 122, CAS number: 9003-11-6) is a nonionic surfactant produced by Haian Guoli Chemical Co., Ltd. Its appearance is a colorless to light yellow transparent liquid. Its chemical name is polyoxypropylene polyoxyethylene block copolymer ether, belonging to the Poloxamer series, with a controllable molecular structure that is safe and mild.
The outstanding performance of this product lies in its extremely strong defoaming and foam suppression capabilities, quickly breaking foam under both dynamic and static conditions and providing long-lasting foam inhibition. At the same time, it also possesses excellent emulsifying, wetting, and dispersing abilities, showing remarkable compatibility with various oil phases and pigment systems. It remains highly stable in acidic, alkaline, and high-hardness water environments, ensuring formula durability. Additionally, it can significantly enhance the spreading speed and uniformity of the water film in cleaning systems, achieving efficient drying and streak-free results.
Polyether L-42 has good compatibility with various anionic, cationic, and nonionic auxiliaries, and is safe and mild. The product is not classified as a dangerous good (closed cup flash point above 200°C), has good biodegradability, low toxicity to aquatic organisms, high environmental compatibility, and meets ecological safety requirements.
| Application Area | Specific Use Description |
|---|---|
| Industrial and household low-foam/controlled-foam hard surface cleaners | Utilizing low-foam characteristics and strong wetting power to quickly penetrate and remove oil stains, easy to rinse without residue, suitable for automatic spray cleaning equipment and household easy-rinse formulas. |
| Automatic dishwasher rinse aid and drying agent | As a key drying component, significantly reducing the interfacial tension of water on dish surfaces, promoting rapid water film leveling and evaporation, achieving fast drying, preventing water spots and streaks, and improving the brightness of glass and ceramic ware. |
| Metalworking fluids and cutting fluids | Combining lubrication and cooling effects, low-foam property suppresses excessive foam generated during cutting and grinding cycles, preventing liquid overflow and pump cavitation, ensuring high-speed processing stability and workpiece precision. |
| Industrial hard surface cleaning (including CIP cleaning) | Strong penetration and emulsification dispersion, efficiently breaking down heavy grease and carbon deposits, low-foam characteristics provide excellent effectiveness in dynamic cleaning systems such as high-pressure spraying. |
| Basic component of high-performance defoamers | Acting as the core active substance in defoamers, quickly spreading and breaking bubbles, instantly eliminating large and small bubbles on industrial process liquid surfaces, providing long-lasting foam suppression performance, widely used in fermentation, papermaking, water treatment, and other fields. |
| Wetting and dispersing agent for coatings, inks, and adhesives | Effectively reducing dynamic surface tension, enhancing the resin's ability to encapsulate and wet pigments and fillers, improving color uniformity and adhesion, and suppressing micro-bubble generation during production and application. |
| Auxiliary agent for textile printing and dyeing pretreatment (scouring, bleaching) | As an efficient penetration promoter, accelerating the uniform diffusion of alkali liquor or hydrogen peroxide bleaching solution in fiber assemblies, helping to remove natural wax and impurities from cotton fibers, significantly improving capillary effect and whiteness. |
| Emulsifier for pesticide emulsifiable concentrates, microemulsions, and suspension concentrates | Excellent emulsifying and dispersing dual performance, allowing high-concentration technical material formulations to spontaneously form stable emulsions or suspensions upon dilution, enhancing the wetting, spreading, and adhesion of the spray solution on target crop interfaces, improving the utilization rate of active ingredients. |
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Product Name | Polyether L-42 |
| Alias | Poloxamer 122 |
| CAS Number | 9003-11-6 |
| Chemical Type | Nonionic surfactant (polyoxypropylene polyoxyethylene block copolymer ether) |
| Appearance | Colorless to light yellow transparent liquid |
| Flash Point | Closed cup flash point above 200°C |
| HLB Value | Not available |
| Cloud Point | Not available |
| Recommended Storage Temperature | 5°C to 35°C |
With its unique combination of low-foam/controlled-foam and rapid spreading drying, Polyether L-42 is particularly suitable for formula systems requiring integrated foam control and rinsing. In automatic dishwasher rinse aids, it is recommended to be compounded with chelating agents and organic acids; in metalworking fluid formulations, it can be used as a low-foam lubricating component synergistically with rust inhibitors and extreme pressure additives; as an active defoamer component, it can be compounded with hydrophobic silica, silicone, etc., to enhance defoaming persistence. The specific dosage should be determined through gradient tests based on the foam control requirements and wetting needs of the target system.