Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating General Viscosity of Hand Sanitizer Gel

  • Viscosity of Hand Sanitizer Gel

    Posted by MurtazaHakim on April 25, 2020 at 10:22 am

    Greetings to the forum members,

    I formulated 5 litres Hand Sanitizer Gel following the below formulation.

    1. Carbopol Ultrez 21 - 12 grams
    2. Water - 1.485 litres
    3. Ethanol 99.9% - 3.5 litres
    4. Glycerine - 9 grams 
    5. Triethanolamine - 6 grams

    The sequence of formulation was as follows.
    A. 12 grams of Carbopol Ultrez 21 is sprinkled to the vortex of the 1.485 litres of DM water in a beaker and mixed for 20 minutes at 650 RPM.
    B. 3.5 litres of Ethanol 99.9% is added after 20 minutes of mixing at 650 RPM.
    C. 9 grams of Glycerine is added after the addition of Ethanol. The solution at this stage appears hazy.
    D. 6 grams of TEA is added at once finally and as soon as it is added the solution begins to appear clear.

    However, the viscosity of the resultant product is not much promising.

    Is the above method of dispersion and mixing correct or there are better methods of dispersing Carbopol Ultrez 21 ???

    MarkBroussard replied 4 years, 9 months ago 6 Members · 9 Replies
  • 9 Replies
  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    April 25, 2020 at 11:39 am

    It’s impossible to read. Translate it into percentages and check the pH. There might be multiple reasons: not enough carbopol, the concentration of alcohol is higher than what carbopol can thicken, not enough TEA, so pH is still too low etc..

  • MurtazaHakim

    Member
    April 25, 2020 at 12:23 pm

    1. Carbopol Ultrez 21 - 0.24 %
    2. Water -  29.46 %
    3. Ethanol 99.9% - 70 %
    4. Glycerine - 0.18
    5. Triethanolamine - 0.12 % 

    The pH of the final product was 6.35

  • belassi

    Member
    April 25, 2020 at 2:42 pm

    % carbomer seems too low, I would increase it to 0.33% and try again.

  • EVchem

    Member
    April 27, 2020 at 11:20 am

    you can also try pHing the carbomer before adding in alcohol

  • MarkBroussard

    Professional Chemist / Formulator
    April 27, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    Ultrez-21 will not give you sufficient viscosity in a hydroalcoholic solution … use Carbomer instead at 0.5%

  • MurtazaHakim

    Member
    April 27, 2020 at 1:13 pm

    @MarkBroussard Which carbomer do you suggest instead of Ultrez 21 ???

    Ultrez 21 provides acceptable clarity to the finished product which the other carbomer may not provide. 

  • em88

    Pharmacist
    April 27, 2020 at 3:28 pm

    What is the expected viscosity you are looking for? 

  • MurtazaHakim

    Member
    April 27, 2020 at 6:00 pm

    @em88 I am looking for a viscosity of around 10,000 mm2/s 

  • MarkBroussard

    Professional Chemist / Formulator
    April 27, 2020 at 6:54 pm

    Try Ultrez-10

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