Aldrich Materials Science

Surfactants Classified by HLB Numbers

Surfactants are typically ampiphilic molecules that contain both hydrophilic and lipophilic groups. The hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) number is used as a measure of the ratio of these groups. It is a value between 0-60 defining the affinity of a surfactant for water or oil. HLB numbers are calculated for nonionic surfactants, and these surfactants have numbers ranging from 0-20. HLB numbers >10 have an affinity for water (hydrophilic) and number <10 have an affinity of oil (lipophilic). Ionic surfactants have recently been assigned relative HLB values, allowing the range of numbers to extend to 60. Aldrich Materials Science offers a wide variety of surfactants with a broad range of HLB numbers to help you select for correct surfactant for your Oil/Water and Water/Oil emulsions.

Product #

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Description

Synonym

HLB Number

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238570 IGEPAL® CA-520 average Mn ~427 Polyoxyethylene (5) isooctylphenyl ether Polyoxyethylene (5) octylphenyl ether, branched 10
    • 238643 IGEPAL® CO-520 average Mn 441 Polyoxyethylene (5) nonylphenylether, branched 10
    • 458988 Polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~920   10
    • 458961 Polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~1,400   10
    • 388858 Brij® C10 average Mn ~683 Polyethylene glycol hexadecyl ether Polyoxyethylene (10) cetyl ether 12
    • 431281 Brij® O10 average Mn ~709 Brij 97 C18-1E10 Polyoxyethylene (10) oleyl ether 12
    • 388890 Brij® S10 average Mn ~711 Polyethylene glycol octadecyl ether Polyoxyethylene (10) stearyl ether 12
    • 421332   MERPOL® OJ surfactant   12
    • 461199 2,4,7,9-Tetramethyl-5-decyne-4,7-diol ethoxylate average Mn ~670, average Mw ~700   13
    • 542334 IGEPAL® CO-630 average Mn 617 Polyoxyethylene (9) nonylphenylether, branched 13
    • P1629 TWEEN® 60 nonionic detergent Polyethylene glycol sorbitan monostearate Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate 14.9
    • 238589 IGEPAL® CA-720 average Mn ~735 Polyoxyethylene (12) isooctylphenyl ether Polyoxyethylene (12) octylphenyl ether, branched 14
    • 238651 IGEPAL® CO-720 average Mn ~749 Polyoxyethylene (12) nonylphenyl ether, branched 14
    • P1504   TWEEN® 40 viscous liquid Polyoxyethylenesorbitan monopalmitate 15.6
    • 436240 BRIJ® O20 average Mn ~1,150 Polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether 15
    • P4019 Brij® S20 Polyethylene glycol octadecyl ether Polyoxyethylene (20) stearyl ether 15
    • 421308   MERPOL® HCS surfactant   15
    • P5884   Brij® 58 average Mn ~1124 Polyethylene glycol hexadecyl ether Polyoxyethylene (20) cetyl ether 16
    • 274348 TWEEN® 20 average Mn ~1,228 Polyethylene glycol sorbitan monolaurate Polyoxyethylenesorbitan monolaurate 16
    • 238678 IGEPAL® CO-890 average Mn ~1,982 Polyoxyethylene (40) nonylphenyl ether, branched 17
    • 466387 Brij® S 100 average Mn ~4,670 Polyoxyethylene (100) stearyl ether 18
    • 238694 IGEPAL® DM-970 Polyoxyethylene (150) dinonylphenyl ether Polyoxyethylene, dinonylphenyl and nonylphenyl ethers, branched 19
    • 278386 2,4,7,9-Tetramethyl-5-decyne-4,7-diol, mixture of (±) and meso 98%   4
    • 388866 Brij® 93 average Mn ~357 Polyethylene glycol oleyl ether Polyoxyethylene (2) oleyl ether 4
    • 238562 IGEPAL® CA-210 average Mn ~294 Polyoxyethylene (2) isooctylphenyl ether Polyoxyethylene (2) octylphenyl ether, branched 4
    • 458996 Polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~875   4
    • 388831   Brij® 52 average Mn ~330 Polyethylene glycol hexadecyl ether Polyoxyethylene (2) cetyl ether 5
    • 421286   MERPOL® A surfactant   6
    • 388920 Sorbitan monopalmitate Span® 40 6
    • 435546 Ethylenediamine tetrakis(ethoxylate-block-propoxylate) tetrol average Mn ~7,200 Tetronic 90R4 1.0 - 7.0
    • 435511 Ethylenediamine tetrakis(propoxylate-block-ethoxylate) tetrol average Mn ~3,600 Tetronic 701 1 - 7
    • 435406 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~1,100 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® L-31 1.0 - 7.0
    • 435422 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~2,000 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® L-61 1.0 - 7.0.
    • 435430 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~2,800 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® L-81 1.0 - 7.0
    • 435457 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~4,400 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® L-121 1.0 - 7.0
    • 435503 Poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol) average Mn ~3,300 PPG-PEG-PPG Pluronic® 31R1 2.0 - 7.0
    • 435465 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~5,800 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® P-123 7 - 9
    • 435481 Poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol) average Mn ~2,700 PPG-PEG-PPG Pluronic® 17R4 7.0 - 12.0
    • 435449 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~2,900 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® L-64 12.0 - 18.0
    • 435473 Poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol) average Mn ~2,000 PPG-PEG-PPG Pluronic® 10R5 12.0 - 18.0
    • 412325 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~8,400 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® F-68 >24.0
    • 542342 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~14,600 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® F-108 >24.0
    • 459003 Polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~575   4
    • 435414 Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) average Mn ~1,900 PEG-PPG-PEG Pluronic® L-35 18.0 - 23.0
    • 421340   MERPOL® SE surfactant   10
    • 466409 Poly(ethylene glycol) sorbitol hexaoleate   10
    • 466395 Poly(ethylene glycol) sorbitan tetraoleate Polyoxyethylene sorbitan tetraoleate 11
    • 421359   MERPOL® SH surfactant   12
    • 466417 Poly(ethylene glycol) (12) tridecyl ether mixture of C11 to C14 iso-alkyl ethers with C13 iso-alkyl predominating Polyoxyethylene (12) tridecyl ether 14
    • 466875 Poly(ethylene glycol) (18) tridecyl ether mixture of C11 to C14 iso-alkyl ethers with C13 iso-alkyl predominating Polyoxyethylene (18) tridecyl ether 15
    • 235989 Brij® L4 average Mn ~362 Polyethylene glycol dodecyl ether Polyoxyethylene (4) lauryl ether 9