| Abstract |
Gel detergents possess some advantages compared to podwer detergents, such as easyness to transport, high eficiency considering number of washes per bottle and the reasonable use of water and package. In order to check if a specific product shows gel behaviour, rheological studies are carried out; namely, Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear tests. With this in mind, we report the influence of temperature (5-40) degrees C on the mechanical spectra of four commercial detergents whose labels claim they are gels. The experimental results obtained supported that two out of four samples exhibited the expected weak gel viscoelastic properties. The remaining two detergents showed typical viscoelastic behaviour of viscous solutions (liquid-like response instead of gel-like), whose structure is not significant.\n We also conducted stepwise flow curves in the same temperature range. Most detergents studied showed shear thinning properties, which fitted the power law equation. The results obtained supported that the more shear thinning was the detergent sample, the more marked gel-like properties were observed. Finally, a sensory analysis was carried out in order to know the perception of the gel character for 30 panelists. |
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