JV forges water-soluble surfactant launch

Also known as Tauranol, the companies say that the product has the same mildness and foaming attributes of other surfactants in the Innospec portfolio, but also has an enhanced solubility to facilitate clearer liquid systems. Although Tauranol is aimed at a wide variety of personal care products, the product is expected to be of particular interest to manufacturers of specialty (sulfate-free) shampoos, as well as face and body cleansers. Philip Matena, president of Innospec claims that the launch of the product is one of the most exciting ingredients to hit the personal care market in a number of years, particularly in view of the fact that it brings added flexibility to formulators. "Our expertise in Isethionate chemistry enabled us to efficiently scale up for production in commercial quantities, and our sales and marketing teams have already generated significant interest in this breakthrough product." Dave Parkin, vice president at Huntsman, said that the product launch represented, "a great example of Huntsman's continued innovation across a wide variety of end markets, as well as our discipline in pursuing different approaches to commercializing new technologies in markets outside our strategic focus." The companies say that the reason for the joint venture was to combine Innospec's technical capabilities and marketing strengths in the personal care arena, with Huntsman's production and distribution capabilities. Specialty surfactants combine high performance and functionality. They are currently found in some of the more advanced and premium personal care formulations, where the additions helps to lower the surface tension of a liquid, making it easier to spread. This family of chemicals is commonly used for foaming and defoaming of personal care formulations, and is most commonly used in hair conditioners. Significant growth has been experienced in the demand for increasingly functional surfactants in recent years, which experts put down to growing consumer demands for increasingly complex and effective personal care products.