Polysorbate 20 (common commercial brand names include Kolliphor PS 20, Scattics, Alkest TW 20, Tween 20, and Kotilen-20) is a
polysorbate
Polysorbates are a class of emulsifiers used in some pharmaceuticals and food preparation. They are commonly used in oral and topical pharmaceutical dosage forms. They are also often used in cosmetics to solubilize essential oils into water-base ...
-type
nonionic surfactant formed by the
ethoxylation
Ethoxylation is a chemical reaction in which ethylene oxide adds to a substrate. It is the most widely practiced alkoxylation, which involves the addition of epoxides to substrates.
In the usual application, alcohols and phenols are converted in ...
of
sorbitan
Sorbitan is a mixture of isomeric organic compounds derived from the dehydration of sorbitol and is an intermediate in the conversion of sorbitol to isosorbide. Sorbitan is primarily used in the production of surfactants such as polysorbates; wh ...
monolaurate. Its stability and relative nontoxicity allows it to be used as a
detergent and
emulsifier in a number of domestic, scientific, and pharmacological applications. As the name implies the ethoxylation process leaves the molecule with 20
repeat unit
In polymer chemistry, a repeat unit or repeating unit (or mer) is a part of a polymer whose repetition would produce the complete polymer chain (except for the end-groups) by linking the repeat units together successively along the chain, like the ...
s of
polyethylene glycol
Polyethylene glycol (PEG; ) is a polyether compound derived from petroleum with many applications, from industrial manufacturing to medicine. PEG is also known as polyethylene oxide (PEO) or polyoxyethylene (POE), depending on its molecular we ...
; in practice these are distributed across 4 different chains, leading to a commercial product containing a range of chemical species.
Food applications
Polysorbate 20 is used as a
wetting agent
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming ...
in flavored mouth drops such as Ice Drops, helping to provide a spreading feeling to other ingredients like
SD alcohol and mint flavor.
The
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
has suggested acceptable daily intake limits of 0–25 mg of polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters per kg body weight.
Biotechnical applications
In biological techniques and sciences, polysorbate 20 has a broad range of applications. For example, it is used:
* as a washing agent in
immunoassay
An immunoassay (IA) is a biochemical test that measures the presence or concentration of a macromolecule or a small molecule in a solution through the use of an antibody (usually) or an antigen (sometimes). The molecule detected by the immunoass ...
s, such as
Western blot
The western blot (sometimes called the protein immunoblot), or western blotting, is a widely used analytical technique in molecular biology and immunogenetics to detect specific proteins in a sample of tissue homogenate or extract. Besides detect ...
s and
ELISA
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presen ...
s. It helps to prevent non-specific antibody binding. In this major application, it is dissolved in
Tris-buffered saline
Tris-buffered saline (TBS) is a buffer used in some biochemical techniques to maintain the pH within a relatively narrow range. Tris
Tris, or tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, or known during medical use as tromethamine or THAM, is an organic co ...
or
phosphate buffered saline
Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) is a buffer solution (pH ~ 7.4) commonly used in biological research. It is a water-based salt solution containing disodium hydrogen phosphate, sodium chloride and, in some formulations, potassium chloride and po ...
at dilutions of 0.05% to 0.5% v/v. These buffers are used for washes between each immunoreaction, to remove unbound immunologicals, and eventually for incubating solutions of immunoreagents (labeled antibodies) to reduce nonspecific background.
* to saturate binding sites on surfaces (i.e., to coat polystyrene microplates, generally combined with proteins such as BSA).
* to stabilize proteins
purified protein derivative
Tuberculin, also known as purified protein derivative, is a combination of proteins that are used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. This use is referred to as the tuberculin skin test and is recommended only for those at high risk. Reliable admin ...
(PPD) solution used in skin testing for
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
exposure
* as a solubilizing agent of
membrane
A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. ...
proteins
* for
lysing mammalian cells, at a concentration of 0.05% to 0.5% v/v, generally combined with other detergents, salts and additives.
Pharmaceutical applications
Polysorbate 20 is used as an
excipient
An excipient is a substance formulated alongside the active ingredient of a medication, included for the purpose of long-term stabilization, bulking up solid formulations that contain potent active ingredients in small amounts (thus often referred ...
in pharmaceutical applications to stabilize
emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Altho ...
s and
suspension
Suspension or suspended may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Suspension (topology), in mathematics
* Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics
* Suspension of a ring, in mathematics
* Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspende ...
s.
Industrial and domestic applications
Polysorbate 20 is used in many brands of baby wipes.
Polysorbate 20 is used by
philatelists
Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...
to remove stamps from envelopes and to remove residues from stamps, without harming the stamp itself.
Polysorbate 20 is also used as wetting agent in rubber balers in the
elastomer industry.
Polysorbate 20 has been used as a shape directing agent to synthesize spheroidal
magnetite
Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With th ...
nanoassemblies.
[Q. Maqbool, C. Singh, A. Paul and A. Srivastava ''J. Mat. Chem. C'', 2015, 3, 1610]
See also
*
Polysorbate 80
Polysorbate 80 is a nonionic surfactant and emulsifier often used in pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics. This synthetic compound is a viscous, water-soluble yellow liquid.
Chemistry
Polysorbate 80 is derived from polyethoxylated sorbitan and ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Tween 20 on biologists' wiki OpenWetWare
Non-ionic surfactants
Excipients
Laurate esters
E-number additives