JP7802274B2 - Electron donor visualization kit and electron donor visualization method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electron donor visualization kit that can visualize urinary components and other electron donors, and a method for visualizing electron donors using the same.

Urine components easily scatter onto toilet floors and walls, and if left unattended, they will be broken down by bacteria and cause unpleasant odors such as ammonia. Protein components such as milk, sweeteners, and juices also easily scatter around the kitchen and dining table, causing stains and odors if left unattended. For this reason, cleaning is carried out regularly or as needed, but because these deposits are nearly transparent, they are difficult to see with the naked eye after drying. Therefore, even after cleaning, it is not possible to confirm whether they have been completely removed, and as a result, many people feel that the odor does not go away even after cleaning.

Countermeasures include replacing wallpaper and installing air purifiers, but these are quite costly. As a result, many people simply ventilate the room or install air fresheners or deodorizers. However, these measures do not remove the source of the dirt or odor, so their effectiveness is limited.

Patent Document 1 discloses a cleaning composition containing a dye that stains proteins and a surfactant that removes dirt. It explains that by using this cleaning composition, protein adhesion sites can be made visible by the dye, and then cleaned by the surfactant. However, there is a risk that the dye that adheres to sites where protein is not attached will also develop a slight color over time, making the entire surface appear slightly dirty.

Special Publication No. 7-504699

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and provide an electron donor visualization kit and electron donor visualization method that can visualize electron donors such as urine components and trace protein components, without causing color reversion in areas where the electron donor is not attached. Color reversion refers to the phenomenon in which colorless areas develop color over time.

The electron donor visualization kit of the present invention, developed to solve the above problems, is an electron donor visualization kit that combines Solution A, which contains a coloring component consisting of an electron donor colorant and a solvent, with Solution B, which contains a bleaching component consisting of an electron acceptor and a solvent, and is characterized in that an alkali metal silicate is added to one or both of Solutions A and B.

The alkali metal silicate is preferably at least one of sodium metasilicate, sodium sesquisilicate, and sodium orthosilicate. This electron donor visualization kit can be used as a kit for visualizing urine components.

The electron donor visualization method of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, is a method for visualizing an electron donor using the electron donor visualization kit, characterized in that the attachment site of the electron donor is visualized by spraying the liquid A and the liquid B onto the attachment site of the electron donor. This electron donor visualization method can be used to visualize urine components.

The electron donor visualization kit of the present invention consists of Solution A, which consists of an electron donor colorant and a solvent, and Solution B, which contains a bleaching component consisting of an electron acceptor and a solvent, and is capable of visualizing electron donors such as urine components and trace protein components. Furthermore, the alkali metal silicate added to one or both of Solutions A and B acts to prevent color reversal of electron donor colorant sprayed on surfaces to which no electron donor has adhered.

The embodiments of the present invention will be described below. First, the principle of visualization of the electron donor of the present invention will be described.
First, when Liquid B, which contains a bleaching component consisting of an electron acceptor and a solvent, is sprayed onto the surface where urine components are attached, the bleaching component reacts with the urine components, which are electron donors, reducing the bleaching ability, but there is no reduction in bleaching ability in areas where the electron donor is not attached. Next, when Liquid A, which consists of an electron-donating colorant and a solvent, is sprayed on top of it, the electron-donating colorant is bleached and decolorized in areas where the bleaching ability is not reduced, becoming colorless. However, the electron-donating colorant is not decolorized in areas where the bleaching ability has been reduced by reaction with the urine components. Therefore, only the areas where urine components are attached can be colored and visualized. Liquid A can be sprayed before Liquid B, or they can be sprayed simultaneously.

Electron donors that can be visualized include proteins made up of amino acids, and sweeteners and juices containing glucose and dextrose. The amino groups of amino acids and the ether groups of glucose and dextrose are electron donors that are easily oxidized, and urine components can also be visualized because they contain proteins. In addition, compounds with high electron density (δ-) such as C=C, C=N, CN (including peptide bonds), _-NH2 , -NH-, and -SH are easily oxidized. This makes it possible to visualize not only urine components , but also proteins , amino acids, sugars, and other compounds.

Solution A consists of an electron-donating colorant and a solvent. Electron-donating colorants are colorants that easily lose electrons and oxidize. This property applies to all dyes, including acid and basic dyes. Examples of acid dyes include nitroso dyes, nitro dyes, monoazo dyes, diazo dyes, triphenylmethane dyes, xanthene dyes, anthraquinone dyes, indigoid dyes, and aminoketone dyes. Examples of basic dyes include diphenylmethane dyes, acridine dyes, methine dyes, thiazole dyes, azine dyes, and thiazine dyes. Other examples of dyes that can be used include triazo dyes, polyazo dyes, quinoline dyes, oxazine dyes, carotenoid dyes, indophenol dyes, hydroxyketone dyes, anthocyanin dyes, alizarin red S, and borothymol. The content of the electron-donating colorant is preferably 10 ppm to 10 wt%, and even more preferably 100 ppm to 1 wt%.

The solvent can be water such as ion-exchanged water, pure water, or tap water, or an organic solvent. Examples of organic solvents include alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, pentanol, hexanol, and benzyl alcohol, and diols or triols such as glycerin, diglycerin, triglycerin, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol, which can be used alone or in combination. The amount added is preferably in the range of 60 to 99.99% by weight.

The electron acceptor contained in Solution B is an oxidizing agent that oxidizes a substance by accepting electrons, and can be selected from the group consisting of metal hypochlorites such as sodium hypochlorite, metal chlorates, hydrogen peroxide, metal perborates, metal percarbonates, metal peroxides, acyl peroxides, benzoyl peroxide, peracetic acid, ozone, sodium bisulfate, nitrogen dioxide, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, azodicarbonamide, sodium sulfite, sodium metabisulfite, percarbonates, tetraacetyleneethylenediamine, metal peroxymonosulfates, and mixtures thereof. The content of the electron acceptor is preferably 10 ppm to 20 wt%, and even more preferably 100 ppm to 6 wt%.

In the present invention, an alkali metal silicate is added to one or both of liquids A and B. Examples of alkali metal silicates include sodium metasilicate, sodium sesquisilicate, and sodium orthosilicate. The content of these is preferably 10 ppm to 20 wt%, and even more preferably 100 ppm to 10 wt%.

It is preferable that Liquid A and Liquid B are filled into separate spray containers and sold as a kit. The visualization kit of the present invention refers to a tool used to spray Liquid A and Liquid B onto the surface of an electron donor to visualize urine components, etc., and may take the form of, for example, one or more spray containers, packs, collection tubes, syringes, etc. filled with Liquid A and Liquid B, respectively, but the form is not critical. The kit may also be electrically driven using a sensor or power source, or may be configured like an aerosol in which the contents are sprayed in a mist due to gas pressure.

As described above, to visualize electron donors using the electron donor visualization kit, simply spray Solution A and Solution B, either sequentially or simultaneously, onto the surface where the electron donor is attached. At locations where electron donors such as urine components or protein components are attached, the electron acceptor contained in Solution B is consumed by oxidizing the electron donor. As a result, the electron donor colorant is not oxidized, and the areas where the electron donor is attached develop color. However, at non-attached areas, the electron acceptor contained in Solution B is not consumed, so the bonds in the dye molecular structure are broken and color does not develop. In this way, only the areas where the electron donor is attached can be colored and visualized.

However, because the sprayed liquid contains substances such as charged surfactants and free substances, some of the broken dye bonds may steal electrons from these substances, causing re-coloring (color restoration) over time. In this invention, alkali metal silicates such as sodium metasilicate, sodium sesquisilicate, and sodium orthosilicate are added to one or both of liquids A and B. These coordinate with the broken dye bonds and prevent it from receiving electrons from the surfactants and free substances. As a result, the present invention does not experience color restoration as in conventional methods, and surfaces to which the electron donor does not adhere remain colorless. This means that cleaning is simplified by concentrating on cleaning only the areas where the colored electron donor is attached. Examples and comparative examples are shown below.

Liquid A was prepared with the composition shown in Table 1, and liquid B with the composition shown in Table 2. The solvent for liquid A was distilled water, the electron-donating colorant was an anthraquinone dye, and citric acid was added as a pH adjuster. Polyoxyethylene alkyl ether sulfate triethanolamine was also added as a surfactant. Liquid A was the same for all examples and comparative examples.

The composition of Liquid B is as shown in Table 2, with tap water as the solvent and sodium hypochlorite as the electron acceptor. Smectite, a water-swellable silicate particle, was added as a thickener. Sodium metasilicate was added in Examples 1-3. Comparative Example 1 consisted only of solvent, sodium hypochlorite, and smectite. Sodium hydroxide was added instead of sodium metasilicate in Comparative Example 2, and sodium bicarbonate was added in Comparative Example 3. Liquids A and B were sprayed sequentially onto a wall surface to which the target component had been attached, and the presence or absence of coloration in the attached areas and color reversal in the non-attached areas immediately after spraying was evaluated, and the results are shown in Table 2. The target component was urine, except for Example 3, where milk was used.

In each example, discoloration was confirmed in the areas where the spray was applied, but no discoloration occurred in areas where the spray was not applied. The same was true for Example 3, in which milk was used as the target ingredient. In contrast, in the comparative example, discoloration was confirmed in the areas where the spray was applied, but discoloration was observed in areas where the spray was not applied. The presence or absence of discoloration was visually observed 3 hours after spraying.

As explained above, the electron donor visualization kit of the present invention and the electron donor visualization method using the same make it possible to visualize electron donors such as urine components and protein components, and also to prevent discoloration of areas to which the electron donor does not adhere.

Claims (5)

An electron donor visualization kit that combines Solution A, which contains a coloring component consisting of an electron-donating colorant and a solvent, with Solution B, which contains a bleaching component consisting of an electron acceptor and a solvent, characterized in that an alkali metal silicate is added to one or both of Solutions A and B. The electron donor visualization kit according to claim 1, characterized in that the alkali metal silicate is at least one of sodium metasilicate, sodium sesquisilicate, and sodium orthosilicate. The electron donor visualization kit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is used as a kit for visualizing urine components. A method for visualizing an electron donor using the electron donor visualization kit described in claim 1, characterized in that the liquid A and the liquid B are sprayed onto the area where the electron donor is attached, thereby making the area where the electron donor is attached visible. The method for visualizing an electron donor described in claim 4, characterized in that the electron donor is a urinary component.