Fengfan CAS 61827-42-7 Isomeric alcohol ethoxylates (Decyl alcohol series/ C10 + EO series)

Product Overview

The C10 series is a family of non-ionic isomeric alcohol ethoxylates built on a branched decyl alcohol, CAS 61827-42-7. Ethylene oxide is added in five controlled chain lengths, so one product line covers HLB 8–15 instead of forcing a change of chemistry whenever a formulation needs more or less hydrophile.

All five grades share the same physical envelope: a colourless or yellowish liquid at 25 °C, colour at or below 50 APHA, water content of 0.5 % or less, and pH 5.0–7.0 in 1 % aqueous solution. What separates them is the length of the ethylene oxide chain, and that single variable moves both the HLB value and the hydroxyl value from one grade to the next.

In a working bath the grades act as wetting, penetrating, emulsifying and dispersing agents. Shops running industrial metal plating, anodizing, cleaning or coating operations use them to cut surface tension so the working solution reaches the metal instead of standing on it, and the same behaviour carries soil and pigment into suspension rather than letting it settle back onto the part.

The series is APEO-free, which is where most current substitution work starts: where a formulation still carries a nonylphenol ethoxylate, these grades are the direct replacement path.

Series Grades and Typical Properties

HLB Range and Typical Use

• One chemistry, five balances. Every grade is a non-ionic surface active agent; what changes is how much ethylene oxide sits on the C10 alcohol, and that one variable sets both the HLB and the hydroxyl value.
• 1003 — HLB 8–10, hydroxyl value 190–200 mg KOH/g. The most oil-leaning grade. Reach for it when the bath carries solvent, wax or a heavy oil load and the surfactant has to meet the oil halfway.
• 1005 — HLB 11–12, hydroxyl value 145–155 mg KOH/g. The middle of the series, and the usual starting point when a formulation needs both wetting and a stable emulsion in water.
• 1007 — HLB 13–14, hydroxyl value 120–130 mg KOH/g. More hydrophilic, with stronger detergency and dispersion in aqueous systems.
• 1008 — HLB 13–14, hydroxyl value 105–115 mg KOH/g. Sits in the same HLB band as 1007 on a longer ethylene oxide chain, which matters when a system responds to chain length rather than to HLB alone.
• 1009 — HLB 14–15, hydroxyl value 100–105 mg KOH/g. The most water-leaning grade, suited to aqueous cleaning and to baths carrying a high electrolyte load.
• Reading the hydroxyl value. It falls as the ethylene oxide chain grows, so it tells you where a grade sits inside the series even when two grades share the same HLB band.

Performance in Formulation

Two comparisons are worth knowing. Against nonylphenol ethoxylates, the C10 grades emulsify and wet more strongly at the same active level. Against isooctyl alcohol ethoxylates, they wet, penetrate and emulsify better and tolerate alkali better. That second advantage is the one formulators notice first, because alkaline degreasers and cyanide-free alkaline plating baths are exactly where an iso-octyl surfactant begins to struggle.

For anyone buying industrial surfactants for a plating or pretreatment line, the practical result is a shorter trial list: a grade that holds its emulsion and keeps penetrating at high pH often replaces two additives that were previously doing separate jobs. Wetting also holds up as the soil load rises, so a bath keeps working for longer between changes.

Test it on your own substrate rather than on a specification. Emulsifying strength depends on the oil, the electrolyte level and the temperature of your bath, and a bench trial with two neighbouring grades settles the choice faster than a data sheet. Plants that run metal plating services usually compare a mid-series grade against the next one up before they commit a full drum.

The grades work in a wide spread of industries for the same reason: paper making, painting and architecture all need a surfactant that lowers surface tension quickly and keeps working once the bath has picked up contamination.

Plating and Electroless Nickel Baths

• Wetting from the tank into the part. A non-ionic wetting agent lowers surface tension so the bath enters blind holes, threads and recessed faces instead of bridging across them, which is what gives an even deposit on complex geometry.
• Fewer wetting-related rejects. Bare patches, streaks and pitting often trace back to a part that came out of the bath only partly wetted. Dosing a wetting agent at the right level removes that class of defect without adding ionic load to the bath.
• Electroless nickel plating process. With no current to drive hydrogen away from the work, bubbles cling to the surface and hold the deposit off it. A wetting agent helps them release and keeps thickness even across a mixed load.
• Pretreatment before plating. The same grades go into soak degreasers and electro-cleaners ahead of the plating tank, lifting oils and polishing residues so the deposit has a clean surface to bond to.
• Alkaline and cyanide-free baths. Industrial metal plating lines that have moved away from cyanide run at higher pH, and that is where grade choice matters most: take a grade from the higher-HLB end and confirm the wetting level in a small bath before charging the tank.
• One grade for pretreatment, one for the tank. Plants running metal plating services usually split it this way, because the two baths sit at different pH and different temperature and rarely suit the same balance.
• Before a full charge. Confirm the grade and addition level in a small trial at your own temperature and current density; wetting behaviour is the one variable that rarely transfers from somebody else's line.

Anodizing, Etching and Passivation Steps

1. Degreasing. An aluminum anodizing process begins with an alkaline or acidic degrease, and this is where a wetting agent earns its place: surface tension drops, the cleaner reaches the bottom of a brushed or polished face, and oils and polishing wax lift off instead of smearing across it.
2. Etch and desmut. After the caustic etch the surface carries smut and dissolved aluminium. Penetration and wetting help the desmut bath work into pits and grain boundaries, so the anodic film grows at an even rate over the whole part.
3. Rinses between stages. How cleanly a surfactant rinses decides how much of it travels into the next tank. Check the rinse at your line speed before raising the dosage, because a grade that wets well but rinses poorly puts extra load on the anodizing bath.
4. Passivation of stainless steel. The same wetting duty applies in passivation: a non-ionic surface active agent helps the acid reach the whole surface and drain away evenly, which is what an even passive layer depends on.
5. Trial before the change. Etch depth, temperature and rinse design differ from line to line. Run two neighbouring grades on scrap parts of the same alloy before the bath is charged.

Cleaning, Degreasing and Leather Processing

Most of the volume goes into cleaning. In hard-surface and industrial cleaners the grades carry the wetting duty, pulling the detergent into seams, crevices and matte finishes where a purely water-based product would otherwise sit on top. Because they also disperse what they lift, soil stays suspended instead of redepositing on the cleaned part.

Leather processing uses them differently. Compounded with a penetrating agent, they work as a leather degreaser, lifting natural fats and process oils without stripping the finish. Paper making, textile refining and construction-chemical formulations use the same wetting and dispersing behaviour, which is why the series shows up in industries well outside metal finishing.

Degreasing ahead of industrial metal plating is where the balance matters most. An under-wetted degreaser leaves a film that only shows up later, as an adhesion failure in the plated layer, and by then the cause is hard to trace.

Dosage is formulation-specific. Start low and titrate up until the surface wets out completely, then check that the foam level still suits your equipment and your rinse design before you fix the recipe.

Coatings, Inks and Construction Chemicals

• Flow and levelling. Wetting the substrate and the pigment keeps a film from pulling back into craters, so the same solids give a smoother, more even coat.
• Pigment dispersion. The dispersing action holds pigment particles apart during grinding, so colour strength develops sooner and hard settling in the container is reduced.
• Adhesion to difficult surfaces. Lower surface tension lets a coating wet oily or slightly contaminated steel instead of beading on it, which is where delamination usually starts.
• Porous substrates. In paper making and architectural coatings the grades speed up wetting of a porous surface, so the product is absorbed evenly rather than drawn into one patch.
• Which band for a coating. Grades in the 11–14 HLB range cover most waterborne systems; the oil-leaning end is the one to reach for when the formulation carries solvent or a high oil load.
• Watch the foam. Higher-HLB grades wet faster and can carry more foam, so fix the addition level against your line speed rather than against a supplier's starting figure.

Ordering and Packing Terms

Related Process Families

• Zinc and zinc-nickel. Alkaline and acid brighteners, low-current additives, purifiers and trivalent chromium passivates for metal plating services running rack, barrel and continuous lines.
• Copper. Non-cyanide alkaline pre-copper for zinc die-castings, alkaline thick copper, and bright acid copper for decorative and electronic work.
• Nickel. Bright nickel additives, bath purifiers and a medium-phosphorus electroless nickel plating process.
• Precious metals. Cyanide-free silver and hard silver, pure gold, immersion gold for PCB finishing, and palladium-nickel for connector contacts.
• Tin. Continuous bright tin and high-speed matte tin processes for wire and strip.
• Aluminium. The full aluminum anodizing process line — degreasing, chemical polishing, etching, electrolytic colouring and sealing.
• Coatings and surface protection. Cathodic electrophoretic lacquers, solvents, and nano protective agents for plated metal, wood, stone and concrete.
• Surfactants and intermediates. The C10 and C13 ethoxylate series, acid-zinc intermediates and specialty monomers — the industrial surfactants side of the range.
• Equipment. Surface treatment equipment for lines that are being built or extended.
• One technical contact across the line. These families run in sequence on the same line, so buying them together keeps a single contact for grade matching, documentation and troubleshooting. Fengfan has supplied surface-finishing chemistry since 1984, and every lot is checked against its specification before it is packed.

Storage, Handling and Transport

Drum and storage. The C10 grades are supplied in 200 kg drums. Keep the drum closed between additions, stand it on a pallet rather than directly on the floor, and store it in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place away from direct sunlight, heat sources, strong acids and oxidizers.

Shelf life. Two years from the date of manufacture, provided the drum stays sealed and is stored under the conditions above. Date each drum as it arrives and draw the oldest stock first, so nothing sits at the back of the store past its window.

Cold weather. The grades thicken and can turn cloudy in an unheated store. Bring the whole drum back to room temperature and mix it before metering a charge; dosing a cold drum straight from the store measures a product that is not yet uniform.

Moisture. Water content is specified at 0.5 % or below. A bung left open in a humid plant lets the product take up moisture, which dilutes the active content and moves the hydroxyl value you rely on for identification. Close the drum after every addition and never leave it open overnight.

Transport paperwork. Every shipment is accompanied by the safety data sheet, which carries the classification, packing and transport information for the grade. Ask for it before the first delivery so your receiving team and carrier know what they are handling; if your customs broker or carrier needs a particular document set, tell your contact and it goes out with the order.

Before charging a bath from an older drum. Check appearance, colour and pH against the batch specification. A sealed drum inside its two-year window is normally fine; one that has been stored warm or left open is worth a bench check before it goes into a plating or cleaning line.

Grade Verification and Batch Consistency

1. Start with the CAS number. All five grades share CAS 61827-42-7, so the CAS confirms the family — the isomeric alcohol ethoxylates built on a C10 branched alcohol — but on its own it does not tell you which grade is in the drum.
2. Read the grade number next. 1003 through 1009 mark the ethylene oxide chain length, and that is what separates one grade from another on the drum label and the technical data sheet.
3. On molecular formula. The ethylene oxide chain is a distribution rather than one fixed length, so the series has no single molecular formula to check a delivery against. Identity is controlled through hydroxyl value and HLB instead, which is why those two numbers carry more weight than a formula here.
4. Titrate the hydroxyl value. Expect 190–200 mg KOH/g on 1003, 145–155 on 1005, 120–130 on 1007, 105–115 on 1008 and 100–105 on 1009. This is the quickest goods-in check, and it also catches a drum that has taken up water.
5. Run a water determination. Karl Fischer, specified at 0.5 % or below on every grade. Moisture is the most common way a stored drum drifts away from its specification.
6. Check pH and colour. pH 5.0–7.0 in 1 % aqueous solution, colour at or below 50 APHA. Both are fast to run and both shift if a drum has been stored hot or exposed to air.
7. Hold it and quote the batch number if it does not match. Each lot is checked against its specification before packing. If a drum does not match its specification, keep it out of the bath, note the batch number and contact us first — that number is what we need to pull the production record and the retained sample.

Durability of Metal Plating Services

Our metal plating services are built for durability, so components hold up in harsh environments and keep performing over a long service life. Advanced electroplating techniques lay down a robust protective layer that supports both longevity and performance. Where appearance matters, gold plating gives a clean aesthetic finish; where corrosion resistance is the priority, zinc nickel plating is the practical choice. Each job is handled for consistent quality and reliability, which is why businesses looking for long-lasting solutions choose us.

Eco-Friendly Paint Chemicals

Our paint chemicals are chosen by customers who want sustainability without giving up performance. The formulations are made to deliver strong results while keeping environmental impact low, which suits businesses working toward green initiatives. Whether the line runs alodine coating or aluminium anodizing, these chemicals support superior adhesion and a finish that holds its appearance and durability. Usage scenarios vary by substrate and process, so tell us what you are running and we will confirm the right product for it.

Technical Support & Model Matching

Choosing the right match is where most sourcing decisions stall. As a trading supplier, we keep one point of contact from first enquiry to after-sales: tell us what you are making and the conditions you work under, and we shortlist the closest matches from our supplier network, compare specifications and arrange samples before you commit to a bulk order. If something does not behave as expected, we work with the supplying partner on the cause and a practical fix, and stay with the case until it is settled. Email, WeChat or WhatsApp enquiries get a reply within 24 hours.

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