When most people think about collagen or collagen peptides, an image of healthy and youthful skin comes to mind. However, this versatile protein offers benefits in many more applications that aren’t immediately obvious. Take, for example, our NOVOTEC^®, a range of innovative additives, which can be used in many different industrial applications – ranging from metal processing to cleaning. The protein-based additive, NOVOTEC^® CB800, has been used in professional vehicle cleaning solutions for a long time and can now also add value to a new generation of water-based surface cleaners.

So, if you look at the traditional and well established surface protection additives what is it that prompted this innovation? Glad you asked! Most of these additives are based on water-repellent substances such as silicones or waxes. The idea is that by applying these products, the surface being treated becomes hydrophobic and, as a result, the water — and the dirt — simply drips off. So far, so good. In reality, however, it can be difficult to remove water-insoluble soils once they’re dried on the surface. With NOVOTEC^® CB800, we want to ensure that no one will get sore muscles while trying to scrub off tenacious dirt.

How did we do this? Basically, NOVOTEC^® CB800 is a concentrated aqueous solution of specific and natural collagen peptides that — thanks to their composition — can attach themselves to different surfaces and can — by self-association — build stable hydrophilic films on cleaned surfaces. To achieve this, they use various mechanisms: depending on the surface texture, they either use polar interactions or Van der Waals forces to bind themselves to the substrate. So, if you add NOVOTEC^® CB800 to a cleaner, what happens is as follows:

• The surfactants do their job and remove most of the loose dirt.
• At the same time, the NOVOTEC^® effect kicks in: The proteins sidestep the already-dissolved dirt and win the race to the surface. There they build a hydrophilic protective layer on the cleaned surface, which also binds additional water from the cleaner onto the surface.

This “second skin” generates what we call an “Easy-to-Clean Effect.” The dirt can no longer reach the surface itself and instead settles on the aqueous protective layer. During subsequent cleaning, the proteins dynamically reinforce the existing film while the dirt is rinsed off with the cleaning solution.

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s even more that can be achieved by combining NOVOTEC^® CB800 with suitable surfactants: Let’s enter the world of “Anti-Fog Effects” When a mirror is cleaned with a traditional glass cleaner, there’s an inconvenient side effect: In a humid climate like a bathroom the mirror can fog if the surrounding air is cooler than the humidity, e.g. after a hot shower. But what happens when we use a cleaner with NOVOTEC® CB800? To illustrate this we conducted a short experiment: A mirror was washed with sodium laureth sulfate — leaving its whole surface squeaky clean! Afterwards, the mirror was “split” into three parts. One was treated with a traditional glass cleaner claiming an anti-fog effect, one was treated with a comparable product containing NOVOTEC^® CB800 and the last one was left untreated. The cleaners were applied with paper towels and then left to dry at room temperature. Afterwards, the mirror was put into a freezer for three minutes to let it cool down.

As soon as the mirror was put back into a room temperature environment, the results were clearly visible: whereas the untreated part steamed up as anticipated, both precleaned parts showed improvements. Yet, although the traditional cleaner was able to prevent some fogging, the NOVOTEC® based cleaner showed a significantly thinner fogging. Therefore, the reflection was much clearer and barely affected by the remaining condensate which quickly dried away. This cold fogging experiment can also be replicated with hot steam by using a hot water bath instead of a freezer to temper the mirror.

By generating these beneficial effects, NOVOTEC^® CB800 offers enhanced efficiency. As such, costs, pollution and water use can be decreased significantly as the cleaning frequency can be reduced. To cite an example, Luxembourg National Railways (CFL) reported fresh water consumption savings of 90% inside their tunnel washers after implementing NOVOTEC^® CB800 based, pH-neutral and biological cleaning systems. And, last but not least, NOVOTEC^® CB800 is a natural polymer, which is both non-allergenic and completely biodegradable. In addition, in contrast to other petrochemical polymers, it neither contains nor produces any microplastic.

Sounds exciting, right? If you want to learn more, contact us today!