Anionic surfactant for the cosmetic industry MEDIALAN LD Composition Lauroyl sarcoside sodium salt MEDIALAN LD INCI name Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate MEDIALAN LD PRODUCT PROPERTIES1 MEDIALAN LD Appearance (20 °C) clear, liquid MEDIALAN LD Iodine colour number max. 1.0 MEDIALAN LD pH-value (1 % water solution) 7.0 – 8.5 MEDIALAN LD solid content 29.0 – 31.0 % MEDIALAN LD Average molecular weight 293 g/mol MEDIALAN LD Manufacture Reaction of coconut fatty acid chloride with sarcosin (Schotten Baumann). Neutralisation with NaOH. MEDIALAN LD Profile Because of its excellent physiological properties and neutral taste MEDIALAN LD is widely used as a foaming agent in dental care preparations, especially in toothpastes. The concentration of MEDIALAN LD in toothpastes is usually in the range of 1 % to 6 %. As a liquid, MEDIALAN LD does not cause troublesome dusting in processing. MEDIALAN LD combines a good cleansing action with relatively weak degreasing. Thus for the manufacture of hair shampoos and body cleansing products MEDIALAN LD is often best combined as mild co-surfactant with alkyl ether sulphates. MEDIALAN LD Foaming behaviour MEDIALAN LD has very good foaming properties especially in soft water and displays interesting synergistic and foam-stabilising properties when combined with other surfactants, e.g. alkyl ether sulphates. The foaming behaviour of MEDIALAN LD also depends on the pH of the finished product. It is usually worthwhile to adjust the formulations to a slightly acid pH of between 5.5 and 6.5, for instance with citric acid. Foam stability in relation to time is also considerably better in the weakly acid than in the alkaline pH range. Compared with some other surfactants, MEDIALAN LD has excellent foaming power in electrolyte-containing solutions.