Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06L—DRY-CLEANING, WASHING OR BLEACHING FIBRES, FILAMENTS, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR MADE-UP FIBROUS GOODS; BLEACHING LEATHER OR FURS
  • D06L4/00—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs
  • D06L4/10—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs using agents which develop oxygen
  • D06L4/12—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs using agents which develop oxygen combined with specific additives

Definitions

• ABSTRACT A stable aqueous bleaching composition comprising: (1) concentrated, acidic hydrogen peroxide stabilized with a stannate salt; (2) an ammonium salt; (3) a stabilizing amount of an organic acid, preferably an alkylidene diphosphonic acid or salt; (4) optionally, other additives.
• the bleaching composition alkaline, the Nl-l, ion is converted to ammonium hydroxide, which promotes the bleaching activity of hydrogen peroxide.
• hydrogen peroxide has long been known as a bleaching agent, it has never achieved significant acceptance for laundry usage and no hydrogen peroxide composition formulated for laundry bleaching usage, either domestic or industrial, is available commercially today. This is so notwithstanding the advantages which a liquid hydrogen peroxide bleach offers: convenient liquid form, ideal for use in cold water, compatible with all fabrics, effective on permanent-press finishes, compatible with most fabric softeners, certain germicides, and optical dyes, and satisfactory economics.
• the failme of hydrogen peroxide to find use as a laundry bleach is attributable in large measure to the fact that no chemical prmoting agent was available which could be formulated into the hydrogen peroxide solution by the manufacturer without causing precipitation of the stannate salts commonly used to stabilize acidic hydrogen peroxide as produced.
• the invention also includes a process for bleaching comprising admixing the bleaching composition with an alkalining agent in such quantity as to make the pH of the resulting admixture greater than 7.0 diluting the admixture to a level of 0.001 to 10 percent; preferably 0.002 to 0.5 percent and more preferably 0.005 to 0.03 percent hydrogen peroxide, and contacting a bleachable substance with the admixture. Since ammonia is considered essential for successful bleaching of human hair, this composition is also advantageous for that purpose. Furthermore, since the ammonium hydroxide is produced in situ, contamination of the air with ammonia fumes is minimized.
• a soluble ammonium salt is added to concentrated hydrogen peroxide containing 0.001 to 0.075, preferably 0.005 to 0.075, percent by weight of a soluble stannate salt (usually Na SnO '3H,O), which acts as a stabilizer for the naturally acidic hydrogen peroxide and also containing 0.001 to 0.5, preferably 0.0] to 0.3 percent by weight of an organic acid such as an alkylidene diphosphonic acid such as is known by the trade name of Dequest 2010, manufactured by Monsanto Chemical Company.
• a soluble ammonium salt usually Na SnO '3H,O
• Suitable alkylidene diphosphonic acids are of the formula Where X is hydrogen or the hydroxyl radical and n is a whole number from 0 to 5. These acids are further described in copending application Ser. No. 49,946, filed June 25, 1970, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Although the mechanism is not well understood, the diphosphonic acid is thought to act as a sequestrant and form a complex with the tin salt, thereby preventing the precipitation of the latter by the NH, ions.
• Other useful sequestrants include ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentacetic acid (DTPA) and nitrilo trimethylene phosphonic acid (Dequest 2000").
• Dequest 2 010 is preferred since it is exceptionally resistant to oxidation in H 0, solution in the presence of high concentrations of cations.
• the pH of such a hydrogen peroxide solution will be about 2.0 to 3.0 but, if desired, may be adjusted within the range of about 0.5 to 7.0 by the addition of common acidifying or alkalining agents such as phosphonic acid or caustic soda.
• the hydrogen peroxide will usually be prepared as about 35 percent by weight, although concentrations of percent or more, or as low as l percent, may also be used without detracting from the effectiveness of the invention.
• the composition may also contain a soluble nitrate salt (e.g., sodium or ammonium nitrate) in a concentration of 0 to 0.50, preferably 0.001 to 0.07, percent.
• a soluble nitrate salt e.g., sodium or ammonium nitrate
• Such salts inhibit chloride corrosion of aluminum containers usually used to transport hydrogen peroxide.
• Suitable stannate salts include sodium stannate trihydrate, sodium metastannate and potassium stannate. The composition thus formed has excellent stability.
• the NH, ion may be provided by any of numerous salts, such as ammonium sulfate, nitrate, acetate, chloride, citrate, phosphate, and formate.
• the ammonium salt may be added as crystals to the hydrogen peroxide solution, with stirring so as to effect dissolution.
• the salt will be dissolved in an appropriate quantity of water and added to the hydrogen peroxide as a solution.
• the bleaching composition may also advantageously contain any of various other chemicals whose uses are very familiar to the hydrogen peroxide art.
• Such chemicals include, for instance, sulfates (e.g., magnesium sulfate) and phosphates.
• ammonium hydroxide is known to be an activator, presumably of the free amide type, for the bleaching action of hydrogen peroxide.
• the bleaching composition of this invention is made alkaline, as is done in almost all bleaching applications, the NH., which functions as a stable latent hydrogen peroxide activator, is converted to ammonium hydroxide.
• the bleaching composition is quite stable in its acidic form, i.e., below about pH 7.0, when made alkaline, preferably about pH 9.0 to 11.0, the hydrogen peroxide is an active oxygen bleach whose effectiveness is significantly enhanced by the presence of the ammonium hydroxide.
• the composition can be made alkaline by any of the various common alkalining agents, such as soluble silicates and phosphates (e.g., the alkali phosphates), soda ash, bo-
• rax and caustic soda.
• these chemicals are usually present in common household laundry detergents. ln ordinary usage, for instance, in home laundering, the concentrated bleaching composition will be considerably diluted. For home usage the bleaching composition may be diluted to a hydrogen peroxide level of about 3 to 6 percent for sale to the consumer. An appropriate quantity of this would be added to the detergent cycle of the washing machine to produce preferably 20 to 100 ppm oxygen. The alkalinity available from the detergent composition being used would convert the NH, present to ammonium hydroxide.
• the bleaching composition has only a minor effect on the pH and total alkalinity of the common household detergents. Obviously, the bleaching composition may be utilized in more or less concentrated form, depending upon the usage, and separate alkalining agents may also be employed, if desired.
• the ratio of NH, to H,O is not critical, however, a 0.8 to 1.021 ratio is desirable.
• a 0.8 to 1.021 ratio is desirable.
• approximately 30 percent ammonium salt would be recommended.
• the beneficial effect in the dilute alkaline wash solution would be proportionally reduced.
• a significantly high ratio would be precluded by the solubility of the ammonium salt in the 35% H,O,.
• Temperature is not critical to the effectiveness of the bleaching composition; it may be employed in a socalled "cold wash as well as the normal hot wash. Useful temperatures cover the range of at least 50 to The invention is further illustrated by the following examples. Percentages are by weight.
• EXAMPLE 1 To a commercial grade of hydrogen peroxide containing 35% H,O,, 0.1 percent Dequest 2010" and 0.01 percent sodium stannate was added, with stirring, 30 percent by weight of ammonium sulfate (NH,),SO, the balance being water. When solution was complete the pH of the resulting solution was adjusted to 2.0 with nitric acid.
• NH, ammonium sulfate
• EXAMPLE 3 A solution was made up as described in Example 1 except that ammonium nitrate was used instead of ammonium sulfate. This solution was then diluted to 3% H,O and tested as in Example 2. The active oxygen loss in 24 hours at C. was 3.3%, which is commercially satisfactory stability for the diluted product.
• EXAMPLE 4 A solution was prepared, according to the procedure of Example 1, to have the following composition: 28% H,O,, 0.1 percent Dequest 2010, 20% (NH,),SO, the balance being water. The pH was 2.3 initially; this was adjusted to 0.5 by addition of nitric acid.
• EXAMPLE 6 Two samples of standard (EMPA) stained cloth (blood, milk and Japanese ink; original brightness of 10 Hunter units) were washed for 100 minutes at F. in a Launder-O-Meter, the wash solution containing 0.15 percent Tide" detergent plus 75 ppm Alkalase enzyme, and 30 ppm active oxygen as hydrogen peroxide.
• the control cloth washed with no NH ions in the solution, showed an increase in Hunter brightness of 6.9 units.
• a stable aqueous bleaching composition having a pH of about 0.5 to 7.0 and, based on the total weight of the composition, consisting essentially of: (1) about 1 to about 50 weight percent hydrogen peroxide; (2) about 1 to about 50 weight percent of a water soluble ammonium salt; (3) about 0.001 to 0.075 weight percent of a soluble stannate salt selected from the group (SEX Hah-H 011 wherein X is hydrogen or the hydroxyl radical and n is a whole number from 0 to 5.
• ammonium salt is selected from the group consisting of ammonium sulfate, nitrate, acetate, chloride, citrate, phosphate, and formate,
• a composition of claim 1 containing approximately 25 to 50 percent hydrogen peroxide, 25 to 50 percent ammonium salt, 0.005 to 0.075 percent soluble stannate salt, 0.01 to 0.3 percent organic acid, and 0.001 to 0.07 percent soluble nitrate salt.
• composition of claim 1 wherein the organic acid is an alkylidene diphosphonic acid.
• a process for bleaching comprising admixing (a) an aqueous bleaching composition having a pH of about 0.5 to 7.0 with (b) an alkalining agent selected from the group consisting of soluble phosphates, silicates, soda ash, borax and caustic soda to make the pH of the resulting admixture approximately 9 to 1 l, diluting the admixture to a level of 0.002 to 0.5 weight percent hydrogen peroxide, and contacting a substance which is capable of being bleached by hydrogen peroxide with the admixture, said aqueous bleaching composition, based on the total weight of the composition, consisting essentially of 1) about 1 to about 50 weight percent hydrogen peroxide; (2) about 1 to about 50 weight percent of a water soluble ammonium salt; (3) about 0.001 to about 0.075 weight percent of asoluble stannate salt selected from the group consisting of sodium stannate trihydrate, sodium metastannate, and potassium stannate; and (4) about 0.01 to
• a process for bleaching comprising admixing a composition of claim 1 with an alkalining agent in such quantity as to make the pH of the resulting admixture greater than 7.0, diluting the admixture to a level of 0.001 to 10 percent, and contacting a substance which is capable of being bleached by hydrogen peroxide with the admixture.
• alkalining agent is selected from the group consisting of soluble phosphates, silicates, soda ash, borax, and caustic soda.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)
• Cosmetics (AREA)

Priority Applications (8)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=23021260

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Cited By (13)

Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 1972
  • 1972-06-30 US US00268051A patent/US3811833A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1973
  • 1973-06-13 CA CA173,982A patent/CA1003605A/en not_active Expired
  • 1973-06-28 IT IT26029/73A patent/IT990818B/it active
  • 1973-06-29 FR FR7323905A patent/FR2190912B1/fr not_active Expired
  • 1973-06-29 DE DE19732333201 patent/DE2333201A1/de active Pending
  • 1973-06-29 BE BE132921A patent/BE801681A/xx unknown
  • 1973-06-30 JP JP48073343A patent/JPS4952784A/ja active Pending
  • 1973-07-02 GB GB3149373A patent/GB1419184A/en not_active Expired

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