CELLULON® Fermentation Derived Cellulose
A novel, naturally derived activated suspension aid for liquid laundry and other surfactant-based formulations
In many home and fabric care applications, there is a need to find a versatile bio-sourced product with excellent environmental credentials that can create stability of components in surfactant- based systems. The liquid laundry detergent segment is one key example where suspension of useful materials such as decorative or active beads, perfume encapsulates, etc. is desired so that enhanced cleaning can be achieved with longer lasting freshness and ease of use. However, the suspension of such key ingredients can be difficult, especially in highly concentrated surfactant systems, using any of the current available naturally derived products, and especially without adversely affecting the viscosity and pour properties of the product.
CP Kelco introduces CELLULON® Fermentation Derived Cellulose (FDC) which has been developed to help meet these wide-ranging challenges. FDC is produced by the fermentation of corn-syrup based media with the bacterium, Komagataeibacter xylinus, and is a pure cellulose that is chemically identical to plant-derived cellulose. However, although chemically identical, CELLULON® FDC fibers are produced as a 3-dimensional, reticulated net-like structure and are much smaller in diameter than plant-derived cellulose. This gives a cellulose with a far higher surface area by weight ratio. This net-like structure allows the CELLULON® FDC to create a true yield value in solution at low use levels which then provides reliable suspensions of actives, decorative particles, perfume encapsulates, etc. with minimal impact on the finished product’s viscosity and dispersability. Furthermore, because the FDC is completely insoluble, it does not compete for water and therefore is highly compatible with other formulation components even in very high surfactant concentrations.
