Polyethylene glycol cetyl ether (polyethylene glycol hexadecyl ether) is a

nonionic surfactant Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a blend of "surface-active agent", coined in 1950. As th ...

produced by the

ethoxylation In organic chemistry, ethoxylation is a chemical reaction in which ethylene oxide () adds to a substrate. It is the most widely practiced alkoxylation, which involves the addition of epoxides to substrates. In the usual application, alcoh ...

cetyl alcohol Cetyl alcohol , also known as hexadecan-1-ol and palmityl alcohol, is a C-16 fatty alcohol with the formula CH3(CH2)15OH. At room temperature, cetyl alcohol takes the form of a waxy white solid or flakes. The name cetyl refers to whale oil (''ce ...

to give a material with the general formula HO(C₂H₄O)_''n''C₁₆H₃₃. Several grades of this material are available depending on the level of ethoxylation performed, with

repeat unit A repeat unit or repeating unit , or mer, is a part of a polymer whose repetition would produce the complete polymer chain (except for the end groups) by linking the repeat units together successively along the chain, like the beads of a necklace ...

s (''n'') of

polyethylene glycol Polyethylene glycol (PEG; ) is a polyether compound derived from petroleum with many applications, from industrial manufacturing to medicine. PEG is also known as polyethylene oxide (PEO) or polyoxyethylene (POE), depending on its molecular wei ...

varying between 2 and 20. Commercially it can be known as Cetomacrogol 1000, Brij 58 (when ''n''=20), Brij 56 (when ''n''=10), and other trade names. It is used as a solubilizer and

emulsifying agent An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although ...

in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, often as an ointment base. It is used as an oil in water (O/W) emulsifier for creams/lotions, and a

wetting agent Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension or interfacial tension between two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid. The word ''surfactant'' is a blend of "surface-active agent", coined in 1950. As t ...

References

{{Reflist Non-ionic surfactants

See also

References