Technical Data Sheet

ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer

Polyphosphate, phosphonate and silicate scale inhibitor for laundry and automatic
dishwashing detergents

Features & • Safe and easy-to-handle liquid and easy to formulate (wide range of alkalinity level,
Benefits bleach stable, excellent surfactant compatibility)
• Effective dispersant for a wide choice of formulations
• Very good filming inhibition on glasses and dishes
• Excellent inhibition of crystal growth and dispersion of precipitates in the cleaning bath
• Prevents the redeposition of soil onto the fabric or hard surface, lime soap encrustation
in liquid laundry products containing fatty acid soaps
• Highly effective in maintaining whiteness and providing lime soap dispersion for liquid
laundry detergents
• Reduced fabric harshness/fabric encrustation

Chemical • Sulfonated water-soluble acrylic copolymer supplied as the partially neutralized sodium
Description salt in water

Applications • Automatic dishwashing detergent formulations

• Laundry detergent formulations
• Water-softener additives
• Hard surface cleaners and bleach formulations
• Industrial and institutional: laundry, ware-wash, bottle-wash and metal-cleaning
products

Typical Properties
Specification Writers: These values are not intended for use in preparing specifications.

Property Unit Result

Appearance Slightly viscous, golden colored solution copolymer
Solid Content1 36–38
pH 3.5–4.5
Viscosity2 cP 150–500

1. Forced Draft Oven, 150°C, 0.6 g, 60 min

2. Brookfield (mPa.s), LV, Spindle #1, 12 rpm, 25°C

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ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer
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Description ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer is a unique copolymer specifically designed for phosphate and
reduced/no phosphate compositions containing formulations in powder, liquid, or tablet
form. Its chemical structure and molecular weight are optimized to provide calcium
polyphosphate and phosphonate, as well as magnesium silicate inhibition properties,
resulting in reduced filming on glasses and dishes in automatic dishwashing or improved
fabric softness and whiteness in laundry detergents.

ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer is a copolymer of acrylic and sulphonic acids optimized for the
following features:

• Anti-precipitation: ACUSOL™ 588 will inhibit precipitation of calcium polyphosphate and

phosphonate, as well as insoluble silicate salts in the wash bath due to absorption
properties on seeds and growing particles. The controlled precipitation of these
sparingly soluble salts will reduce the phenomenon of filming, which is due to
deposition of precipitating builders on the various surfaces encountered in automatic
dishwashing: stainless steel, ceramics, and glass.
• Dispersing properties: ACUSOL™ 588 is an excellent dispersant for calcium
polyphosphate/phosphonate and magnesium silicate base scales. It will keep them
dispersed in the wash bath and avoid their deposition and build-up that would cause
filming on surfaces.

Note: ACUSOL™ 588 is also available as granules under ACUSOL™ 588G Polymer or
powder under ACUSOL™ 588D Polymer names.

Formulation ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer can be combined with acrylic homopolymers such as ACUSOL™
Advice 445G, ACUSOL™ 445NG, ACUSOL™ 420NG, ACUSOL™ 425N in order to boost the
filming inhibition performance due to specific calcium carbonate inhibition properties. This
combination is particularly recommended for the all-in-one tablets, to alleviate the heavy
precipitating conditions arising from higher calcium and magnesium levels in the wash bath.

To obtain an optimal efficiency, ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer should be used at levels between
50 and 500 ppm in the wash bath for household or industrial purposes. This will correspond
to 1–8% of ACUSOL™ 588 in the washing powders.

Formulation Gel it Well - Automatic Dish Washing Gel

Example ACUSOL™ 588 Liquid Polymer was formulated in the following Automatic Dish Washing
Gel combined with anti-spotting surfactant ECOSURF™ Bright 1 and TERGITOL™ 15-S-9
Surfactants, a nonionic surfactant to boost cleaning performance on fat.

Formulation
Disperse ACUSOL™ 810A Rheology Modifier in water at 300 rpm until homogeneous.
Separately, mix ECOSURF™ Bright 1 and TERGITOL™ 15-S-9 Surfactants, at 50ºC, then
add this blend to ACUSOL™ 810A solution. Add ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer and Trilon M one
after the other and mix until homogeneous. Adjust pH to 8.5 with citric acid at 30%. Add the
other ingredients and mix until homogeneous.

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®™Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow
ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer
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Formulation Formulation (Cont.)
Example (Cont.)
Trade Name / Supplier % Wt Ingredient description
Water 40
ACUSOL™ 810A Rheology Modifier / Dow 8 Thickening agent - ASE polymer
TERGITOL™ 15-S-9 Surfactant / Dow 6.7 Secondary alcohol ethoxylate
ECOSURF™ Bright 1 Surfactant / Dow 2.6 Specialty alcohol alkoxylate
ACUSOL 588™ Polymer / Dow 6.4 Acrylic copolymer
Trilon M / BASF 19.4 MGDA
Cublen K8514G / Zschimmer & Schwarz 3.8 HEDP
Citric acid 30% 11.8 pH adjustment
Medley Essential 100L / Novozymes 2.6 Enzymes
Clean Energy 097 / IFF 0.23 Fragrance
Liquitint Bright Yellow / Milliken & Company 0.04 Dye
Liquitint Cyan 15 / Milliken & Company 0.04 Dye
Benzisothiazolinone 0.2 Preservative
XIAMETER™ AFE-0020 Antifoam Emulsion / Dow 0.9 Foam control agent
Water QS 100%

The final formulation is an opaque green liquid with a final viscosity1 of 560 Cps and a pH of
8.6. After the first week of ageing, the viscosity of the formulation remains stable for a month
when stored at room temperature and 40ºC.

Shine Performance
Rinse test performed on Miele GLS2, Program: 50°C/8’/65°C, IKW soil, 6 cumulative wash
cycles.

Benchmark Get it Well

Spot

3 2,5
Film

4 2,5

Figure 1: Visual Assessment of film & spot on glass from 0 (no deposit) to 5 (maximum
deposit)

1 Brookfield DVII cone-plan

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®™Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow
ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer
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Formulation Shine Performance (Cont.)
Example (Cont.) Gel it Well formulation outshines the benchmark, a leading ADW Gel from the German
Market, by reducing filming enabled by ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer and controlling spotting
enabled by ECOSURF™ Bright 1 Surfactant.

Handling PRODUCT SAFETY INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR SAFE USE IS NOT INCLUDED IN
Precautions THIS DOCUMENT. BEFORE HANDLING, READ PRODUCT AND SAFETY DATA SHEETS
AND CONTAINER LABELS FOR SAFE USE, PHYSICAL AND HEALTH HAZARD
INFORMATION. THE SAFETY DATA SHEET IS AVAILABLE ON THE DOW WEBSITE AT
[Link], OR FROM YOUR DOW SALES APPLICATION ENGINEER, OR
DISTRIBUTOR, OR BY CALLING DOW CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Usable Life and Keep from freezing. This emulsion product as supplied will irreversibly coagulate upon
Storage freezing. Extended exposure to temperatures above 40°C may also coagulate the polymer
emulsion and render it unsuitable for use.

Packaging ACUSOL™ 588 Polymer is available in bulk and 1200 kg IBCs. ACUSOL™ 588G Polymer is
Information available in 900 and 1000 kg bags.

Limitations This product is neither tested nor represented as suitable for medical or pharmaceutical
uses.

Health and To support customers in their product safety needs, Dow has an extensive Product
Environmental Stewardship organization and a team of product safety and regulatory compliance specialists
available in each area.
Information
For further information, please see our website, [Link] or consult your local Dow
representative.

[Link] LIMITED WARRANTY INFORMATION – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

The information contained herein is offered in good faith and is believed to be accurate. However, because conditions and
methods of use of our products are beyond our control, this information should not be used in substitution for customer’s tests
to ensure that our products are safe, effective, and fully satisfactory for the intended end use. Suggestions of use shall not be
taken as inducements to infringe any patent.

Dow’s sole warranty is that our products will meet the sales specifications in effect at the time of shipment.

Your exclusive remedy for breach of such warranty is limited to refund of purchase price or replacement of any product shown
to be other than as warranted.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, DOW SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY OTHER
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR MERCHANTABILITY.

DOW DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.

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