US-12618022-B2 - Water-soluble unit dose article comprising a narrow range ethoxylate alkyl alcohol non-ionic surfactant

Abstract

Water-soluble unit dose article comprising a liquid laundry detergent composition, wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition contains a narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant.

Inventors

• Mate DEBRECZENI
• Karel Jozef Maria Depoot
• Robby Renilde François Keuleers
• Julien LABIE
• Phillip Kyle Vinson

Assignees

• THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230302

Priority Date

20220302

Claims (15)

1. 1 . A water-soluble unit dose article comprising a water-soluble film and a liquid laundry detergent composition; wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises a non-ionic surfactant, wherein the non-ionic surfactant comprises an ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, wherein the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises a narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant; wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises an alkyl chain having an average of from about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms; wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant has an average degree of ethoxylation between about 5 and about 12; and wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises polyethoxy groups, and wherein at least about 85% by weight of the total narrow range ethoxylated alcohol surfactant are ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant molecules comprising a polyethoxy group comprising between about 5 and about 12 ethoxy groups, wherein the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises between about 1% and about 50% by weight of the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant of a broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant; wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant and the broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant in a relative weight ratio of about 10:1 to about 1:1; and wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises between about 1% and about 20% by weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition of water.
2. 2 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 1 , wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises a linear narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, a branched narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, or a mixture thereof.
3. 3 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 1 , wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises a primary alcohol based narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, a secondary alcohol based narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, or a mixture thereof.
4. 4 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 1 wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises between about 3% and about 30% by weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition of the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant.
5. 5 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 1 wherein the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises between about 50% and about 99% by weight of the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant of the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant.
6. 6 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 1 wherein the broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises an alkyl chain having an average of from about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms; wherein the broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises polyethoxy groups, and wherein between about 15% and about 45% by weight of the total broad range ethoxylated alcohol surfactant are ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant molecules comprising a polyethoxy group comprising between about 6 and about 10 ethoxy groups, and and wherein between about 30% and about 70% by weight of the total broad range ethoxylated alcohol surfactant are ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant molecules comprising a polyethoxy group comprising between about 5 and about 12 ethoxy groups.
7. 7 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 6 wherein the broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises a linear broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, a branched broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, or a mixture thereof, and wherein the broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises a primary alcohol broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, a secondary alcohol broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, or a mixture thereof.
8. 8 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 6 , wherein i) the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant is derived from a natural alcohol source, a synthetic alcohol source, or a mixture thereof, ii) the broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant is derived from a natural alcohol source, a synthetic alcohol source, or a mixture thereof, iii) or a mixture thereof.
9. 9 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 8 , wherein i) the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant is derived from a synthetic alcohol source, wherein the synthetic alcohol source is made via an oxo process, a Ziegler process, a Guerbet process, an aldol condensation process, or a mixture thereof; ii) the broad range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant is derived from a synthetic alcohol source, wherein the synthetic alcohol source is made via an oxo process, a Ziegler process, a Guerbet process, an aldol condensation process, or a mixture thereof; iii) or a mixture thereof.
10. 10 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises a non-soap anionic surfactant, wherein the non-soap anionic surfactant is selected from neutralised linear alkylbenzene sulphonate, neutralised alkyl sulphate anionic surfactant selected from neutralised alkoxylated alkyl sulphate, neutralised non-alkoxylated alkyl sulphate, and mixtures thereof, or a mixture thereof.
11. 11 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 10 , wherein the weight ratio of non-soap anionic surfactant to ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant in the liquid laundry detergent composition is between 1:1 to 20:1.
12. 12 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 10 wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises a fatty acid, wherein the fatty acid is a neutralized fatty acid soap.
13. 13 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 10 , wherein the liquid laundry detergent comprises between about 5% and about 15% by weight of the liquid detergent composition of water.
14. 14 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 10 , wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises between about 10% and about 40% by weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition of a non-aqueous solvent selected from 1,2-propanediol, dipropylene glycol, tripropyleneglycol, glycerol, sorbitol, polyethylene glycol, ethoxylated glycerin or a mixture thereof.
15. 15 . The water-soluble unit dose article according to claim 10 , wherein the water-soluble film comprises polyvinyl alcohol polymer, wherein the water-soluble film comprises polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer, polyvinyl alcohol copolymer, or mixtures thereof.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION Water-soluble unit dose article comprising a liquid laundry detergent composition, wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition contains a narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Water-soluble unit dose articles are liked by consumers as they are convenient and efficient to use. Such water-soluble unit dose articles often comprise laundry detergent compositions. Without wishing to be bound by theory, when the water-soluble unit dose article is added to water, the film dissolves/disintegrates releasing the internal contents into the surrounding water to create a wash liquor. Often, liquid laundry detergent compositions housed within the water-soluble unit dose article are formulated with ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant. These ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactants are typically derived from natural or synthetic alcohol sources, including OXO-derived alcohol sources such as commercially available under the Neodol tradename, or alternative sources such as those commercially available under the Marlipal and Surfonic tradenames amongst others. Traditionally the alcohols are consequently ethoxylated using a commonly known ethoxylation process which typically yields a broad ethoxylation range distribution. Some formulators tend to formulate the ethoxylated alkyl alcohol non-ionic surfactants at low levels in the liquid laundry detergent composition housed in the water-soluble unit dose article. Without wishing to be bound by theory, when single variably increasing the ethoxylated alcohol level of such broad ethoxylation range ethoxylated alcohol nonionic surfactants, the low water liquid laundry detergent compositions for use in water-soluble unit dose articles tends to significantly thicken upon initial dilution with water. Additionally, the elongational viscosity increases rendering the liquid laundry detergent composition overall harder to disperse in the water. Both effects lead to a delayed product dissolution time, which is non-preferred especially when considering the trend of moving to shorter, colder and lower water wash cycles. This effect has been observed for different starting alcohol sources (primary and secondary alcohols), variations in starting primary alcohol compositions, and variations in average degree of ethoxylation. However, formulators would like to increase the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant levels in water-soluble unit dose articles comprising liquid laundry detergent compositions in order to boost overall cleaning benefit to fabrics, for example, when targeting dingy soils on worn fabrics. It was surprisingly found that a water-soluble unit dose article according to the present invention comprising a narrow range ethoxylated alcohol nonionic surfactant provided reduced thickening upon dilution and reduced elongational viscosity impact and consequently yielded improved product dissolution properties with respect to the low water liquid laundry detergent composition within said water-soluble unit dose article. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A water-soluble unit dose article comprising a water-soluble film and a liquid laundry detergent composition; wherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises a non-ionic surfactant, wherein the non-ionic surfactant comprises an ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant, wherein the ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises a narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant;wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises an alkyl chain having an average of from 8 to 18, preferably 10 to 16, more preferably 12 to 15 carbon atoms;wherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant has an average degree of ethoxylation between 5 and 12, preferably between 6 and 10; andwherein the narrow range ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant comprises polyethoxy groups, and wherein at least 85% by weight of the total narrow range ethoxylated alcohol surfactant are ethoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactant molecules comprising a polyethoxy group comprising between 5 and 12, preferably between 6 and 10 ethoxy groups, andwherein the liquid laundry detergent composition comprises between 1% and 20% by weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition of water. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a water-soluble unit dose article according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Water-Soluble Unit Dose Article The present invention discloses a water-soluble unit dose article comprising a water-soluble film and a liquid laundry detergent composition. The water-soluble film and the liquid laundry detergent composition are described in more detail below. The water-soluble unit dose article comprises the water-soluble film shaped such that the unit-dose article comprises at least one internal compartment surrounded by the water-soluble film. The unit dose article may comprise a first water-sol