Development of environmentally friendly nanofluidic detergents from TiO2 and palm oil-based primary alkyl sulphate surfactant

An environmentally friendly nanofluidic detergent from TiO2 and palm oil-based primary alkyl sulphate (palmPAS) surfactant has been developed as a cleaning agent to remove dirt and leftover surfactants. The structural properties of palmPAS were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) while the stability of newly developed nanofluidic detergent was characterised by particle size analyser (PSA) and zeta potential analyser. Detergency test was done by examining various components of the nanofluidic detergent through spectrophotometer using methylene blue (MB) as the model of dirt. The experimental results revealed that the optimum composition of nanofluidic detergent to remove MB is 0.1% TiO2-0.7% palmPAS, reaching 89% of detergency. In terms of leftover surfactant removal, the nanofluidic detergent can eliminate up to 14% by photodegradation. The output of this study is expected to provide an alternative solution for minimising the use of harmful components from chemical-based cleaning agents.