SEPAWA® CONGRESS 2022 

Speaker: Dr. Matthias Reihmann

Company: GELITA AG

Title: Effective Cleaning With a Second Skin - Design of Protein Protection Films Promotes Cleaning Sustainability

Abstract: The development of more sustainable, environmentally friendly and particularly resource-saving cleaning agents is becoming increasingly important. The consumer no longer values performance and price alone, but also environmental and skin compatibility, cleaning effort and consumption. Particularly innovative cleaners use an easy-to-clean effect in which functional collagen proteins form a hydrophilic protective layer on cleaned surfaces. This "second skin" protects the surface from new contamination and enables effective cleaning under mild pH conditions. In addition to a convincing cleaning result, significantly lower water consumption, easier cleaning and longer cleaning cycles are well-documented advantages. The mode of action of the protective protein layer can be influenced by its design, in particular by a suitable combination of surfactants, hydrotropes or simply by adjusting the pH of the formulation. This was recorded in real time in several experiments using a quartz crystal microbalance and systematically evaluated. For the first time, the formation of the protein film and its dynamics during water absorption could also be made visible using AFM images. The final cleaning result also correlated surprisingly well with measurements of the dynamic surface tension and the zeta potential for selected surfactants. The results show that a variety of cleaning improvements are possible with suitable designs of the protein protective films, for example: performance improvement, cleaning time reduction, biofilm removal. In addition, the effect of active substances can be prolonged or intensified by embedding them in a protein protective film, e.g., when disinfecting surfaces.