Cashew nutshell liquid-derived cardanol is an active phenolic compound highly valued for its abundant source, renewability, and complete biodegradability. This environmentally friendly surfactant aligns with the green development trends of modern industry. Surfactants developed from this raw material exhibit excellent performance, particularly in environmental aspects, attracting widespread attention from both academia and industry. Cardanol-based surfactants have great potential in various fields, including pesticides, textiles, pharmaceuticals, papermaking, coatings, oil extraction, and daily chemical products. Its molecular structure, featuring a fifteen-carbon unsaturated alkyl chain at the meta position, provides a solid foundation for diverse applications.
Based on cardanol, a variety of surfactants can be synthesized, such as cardanol polyoxyethylene ether, cardanol polyoxypropylene ether, and cardanol block polyether. These products can not only replace traditional alkylphenol polyoxyethylene ether series like NP and TX, but anionic surfactants such as cardanol phosphate and cardanol sulfonate also show broad development prospects. Cardanol-based surfactants play an important role in multiple fields, with different molecular structures offering diverse functions such as emulsification, wetting, dispersion, thickening, and suspension.
