Complex formers

What are complexing formers? Where are complex formers used?

Complex formers are used in many industrial production areas. This applies to textile finishing as well as to the formulation of detergents and cleaning agents, where complex formers are used to mask water hardness. The special ability of complex formers is to form stable water-soluble complexes (molecules) with polyvalent metal ions.

The effect: the complexed metal ion is masked, whereby the physico-chemical behaviour – and thus its usage properties – can be specifically modified. Various complex formers are therefore also used in the galvanic and printed circuit board industry.

Under the brand name HAPHONAT we offer high-performance additives for use in detergents and cleaning agents, as additives for circulation and waste water conditioning or as special processing aids, e.g. for the production of colour pastes, for use as concrete additives or for stabilising bleaching agents.

The products of the HAPHONAT range belong to the phosphonate family and have proven themselves over many years in the field of detergents and cleaning agents as well as in the stabilisation of circulating water.

Our HAPHONAT product range is particularly suitable for binding heavy metal ions to prevent greying of the laundry. They can coat cations such as Ca2+ in the solution and change the chemical behaviour of the cation. In the case of calcium, the property to form water hardness disappears. But other cations can also be “coated” in order to more or less reduce their chemical reactivity.

An important industrial use of phosphonates is in cooling water systems, desalination plants and oil production, where they prevent the precipitation of salts. In the paper and textile industry they are used as a stabilizer for peroxide bleaching, where they complex metals that would otherwise inactivate the peroxide.

Here you can download our product range for complex formers as PDF file.

Do you have further questions about complexing agents or our HAPHONAT products? Please contact us! We look forward to hearing from you!