Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Adjusting ph for carbomer gel with EDTA

  • Adjusting ph for carbomer gel with EDTA

    Posted by Sksxlc on May 26, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    Should be easy enough question . EDTA  %1 aprox ph of 10 but this is point when most carbomers fall out to liquid . Need to drop to 6-6.5 s to keep thick .

     used  potassium sorbate  but I understand its not effective over phof 6.5?  (I assume thats why sample darkened at ph7 which I lowered using ascorbic acid ( only thing laying around the other day ) 

    So main question ,  would citric acid   be more effective ( require less product) ? ( will be trying anyway just wanted some input regarding carbomer and ETA)

    JOJO91343 replied 7 years, 4 months ago 8 Members · 11 Replies
  • 11 Replies
  • Sksxlc

    Member
    May 27, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    answered my own question  actually need to add sodium benzoate if im at 6-6.5  ( any lower it carbomer thins ) and yes citric acid use was minimal 

  • ashish

    Member
    May 29, 2016 at 11:22 am

    Generally, EDTA and sodium benzoate are not used for pH adjustment. Citric acid or lactic acid is used to decrease the pH from alkaline to acidic and sod.hydroxide or TEA is used to increase the pH from acidic to alkaline.

  • OldPerry

    Member
    May 31, 2016 at 9:17 pm

    Thanks for the follow-up

  • genevachen

    Member
    June 2, 2016 at 3:32 am

    For carbomer, I used  trolamine to bring up the pH to form a gel. I also used NaOH to bring up the pH to form a gel.

  • shamy27

    Member
    June 6, 2016 at 6:00 am

    yes Use  NaOH  /TEA to increase the pH And citric acid to decrease the pH.

  • Chemist77

    Member
    July 17, 2016 at 11:04 am

    Why not just optimize the alkali rather than adding back the acid????

  • belassi

    Member
    July 17, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    @chemist77 It’s called the “back acid” technique, a peculiarity with Aqua SF1. If that’s what he’s using.

  • Chemist77

    Member
    July 18, 2016 at 4:52 am

    Oops I never saw Aqua SF 1 mentioned in the thread, I am using Aqua SF1 myself and the next grade as well. 

  • JOJO91343

    Member
    November 9, 2016 at 1:23 am

    You may try Lactic Acid Instead of Citric Acid.  It may require you to add a lot more Lactic Acid than what you should add from Citric acid.  If you use Citric Acid in the adjustment, it may decrease viscosity significantly either shortly after the adjustment or on the long run.  When you adjust with citric Acid, you may get pH in the spec range, but, by the time you test for finished product to release the batch, you may get viscosity on the minimum of the Spec. Range which could be released, but, by the time, the product stays on the shelf in the Retail Store and Customers buy it, it may become very watery.

  • JOJO91343

    Member
    January 6, 2017 at 11:56 am

    If you like to try Lactic Acid instead of Citric Acid, You may try the adjustment in a Lab Batch with no more than 20% solution concentration of Lactic Acid till you reach the required pH range only : 6.0 - 6.5 because Lactic Acid has exfoliating property and result in skin peel.  You shouldn’t increase the concentration of Lactic Acid in a batch more than 10% of the 20% Lactic Acid Solution.

  • JOJO91343

    Member
    January 8, 2017 at 2:01 am

    I passed by a formula utilizing Carbopol with Lactic Acid in Skin Brightening Gel in case you like to look at it.
    https://www.ulprospector.com/en/asia/PersonalCare/Detail/849/329345/Skin-Brightening-Gel-Formulation-S-SG0019%5BAP%5D

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