How does temperature and Benzalkonium Chloride affect the efficiency of cleaning products? (PDF)

Scientific Study from the year 2018 in the subject Chemistry - Organic Chemistry, grade: A, , language: English, abstract: How does an increase in temperature and a change in concentration of cationic surfactant Benzalkonium Chloride affects the cleaning ability of different floor cleaners measured in terms of change in surface tension using the stalagmometric method?

What makes a floor cleaner exhibit cleaning ability? The major ingredient in the production of floor cleaners is Benzalkonium Chloride (BKC). There are several other surfactants available but this is commonly found in most of the floor cleaners. BKC, a cationic surfactant, has had several uses since it was introduced. Developed by a group of German scientists in the 1910s as a germicide, it was first used medicinally as a preservative for hard contact lens solutions and skin disinfectant. Today, there are thousands of different products that contain this chemical.

There are various methods like capillary rise, drop and analysis to find the surface tension of a liquid. However, all the methods require machines and apparatus that are not easily available and are also expensive. Therefore, the stalagmometric method was the only feasible method that also gave reliable results. In order to find the floor cleaners that were common a survey was conducted in the local residential area.