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Aloe Vera Gel
I buy Aloe Vera Decolorised juice locally and want to convert it into a gel using just TEA and Carbomer, the problem I am facing is the gel is cloudy and not very clear, want to use the minimum of additives, preservatives are already included in the juice I buy. I have tried to make it first by mixing the Carbomer with the juice (pH 4 ~ 5) and then adding the TEA (pH 7 ~
and I have also tried to first add the TEA and then add the Carbomer, not much success either way. It is easier to add the carbomer to the juice and then add the TEA as the dispersion is better and then the TEA helps to make the gel.Thanks in advance for the recommendations.
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46 Replies
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A normal carbomer wouldn’t be of use here, use which can stand electrolytes while maintaining the clarity.
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Chemist77 said:A normal carbomer wouldn’t be of use here, use which can stand electrolytes while maintaining the clarity.
I use Carbomer 940 - what do you recommend?
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An ultrez might work here, check Lubrizol site. They have plenty.
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Chemist77 said:An ultrez might work here, check Lubrizol site. They have plenty.
Thank you will give that a shot.
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Carbomer 940 is not tolerant to electrolites at all (I personally think it’s not tolerant to anything but water, very dissapointing material). Carbopol Ultrez 30 is claimed to be electrolites resistant by manufacturers. I have not tested it myself yet, but since you asked, I am curious. I will run an experiement later today and let you know if it works.
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ngarayeva001 said:Carbomer 940 is not tolerant to electrolites at all (I personally think it’s not tolerant to anything but water, very dissapointing material). Carbopol Ultrez 30 is claimed to be electrolites resistant by manufacturers. I have not tested it myself yet, but since you asked, I am curious. I will run an experiement later today and let you know if it works.
That is great, would appreciate that, thanks a ton.
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So, I didn’t like the result at all. I dissolved 0.1% of x200 aloe vera powder in deionised water and added 0.5% of ultrez 30. 0.5% in water gives a very thick gel. I elevated the pH to 7 with a couple of drops of thiethanolamine and the end result was a runny serum like cloudy substance. Also ultrez 30 is very difficult to hydrate. Waste of money
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Thanks for the update - appreciate it… I get a good thick gel with Carbomer 940 but the clarity is not there… I did get some clarity if I increase the pH to 8 ~ 9 but anymore and it becomes runny…Thanks for sharing your experience.
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You are welcome. I bought ultrez 30 a couple of weeks ago but didn’t have time to test it. You gave me a reason to do it. I don’t know maybe I did something wrong. The supplier insists that it’s electrolytes resistant… have you tried sepimax zen? That thing can gel pretty much anything.
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I’m using Ultrez 20 with 40% aloe vera and no problem at all.
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I have not used Sepimax - will get a sample and try it out. Will surely share my experience here. Thank you.
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Belassi said:I’m using Ultrez 20 with 40% aloe vera and no problem at all.
When you say 40% Aloe Vera, is it juice or powder? I have got pure clear Aloe Vera Juice and do not want to dilute it further using any other ingredient.
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@Belassi, ultrez 30 supposed to be even more resistant than 20… I don’t know maybe I am just doing something wrong… do you let it hydrate? Do you use TEA or sudium hydroxide to neutralize it? I found ultrez 30 is much more difficult to hydrate than Carbomer 940.
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I found ultrez 30 is much more difficult to hydrate than Carbomer 940.
What????
Ultrez 20 at least, is really easy to hydrate. I hate hydrating 940. I just go away for about an hour and a half… I neutralise it with NaOH. Reliable and simple. -
Thank you @Belassi. I guess I need to try again. I left it for only 20 minutes (which was always enough for Carbomer 940 by makingcosmetics). I guess the hydration time depends on the quality of material. I had C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer powder from two different suppliers. One was self-hydrating (in literally 3 minutes) another one didn’t hydrate even when I left overnight.
@AmitKaria, I will try again today and post an update. I have a full 1kg bag of this Ultrez 30 and I need to figure out how to work with it. Frankly, I don’t like aloe vera, because I feel like it just messes up all my products, but maybe I just didn’t find the right way around it. I will try to elevate aloe powder to make it 100% of the formula.
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I know only two polymers that do not freak out in presence of Aloe vera powder in a lotion: super sticky Sepimax Zen and a product called GelMaker EMU (Sodium acrylate / sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer, isohexadecane, polysorbate 80). Even Sepiplus 400 that is supposed to be electrolyte resistant tuns into water.
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Deionised water, 0.1% of aloe vera x200 powder, 0.5% of ultrez 30. Hydrated for an hour, elevated the pH to 7 with TEA. Result: viscous but cloudy. Tried the same with 0.5% of x200 aloe vera powder (which should equate to 100%), the gel was very runny and cloudy. I hope it’s helpful @AmitKaria
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ngarayeva001 said:
Deionised water, 0.1% of aloe vera x200 powder, 0.5% of ultrez 30. Hydrated for an hour, elevated the pH to 7 with TEA. Result: viscous but cloudy. Tried the same with 0.5% of x200 aloe vera powder (which should equate to 100%), the gel was very runny and cloudy. I hope it’s helpful @AmitKaria
Thank you for the effort…I am doing some of my own tests too but not using Aloe vera powder, using aloe vera decolorised juice so probably will not have to dilute with water, will update with results once I achieve some success… I am hydrating using a blender to disperse the carbomer 940 with the juice, this is where the solution becomes cloudy and does not clear up thereafter.
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Just leave it to hydrate. Carbomers do not like a lot of mixing.
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Will try that - thanks.
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I think Cloudy appearance due to bubble & pH.If u take on finger you can see finger print but in tank it might look like cloudy. -
@ngarayeva001 @AmitKaria Actually what i see it is not problem of electrolyte resistance of ultrez because as it is clear that the obtained gel is viscous , the problem of transperency according to me can be solved by Aloe vera’s solubilizer that what i see and may we should make research about it ” as first impression i think aboul ethanol but to be more correct must know the Aloe vera ingredients and what can be theire adequat solublizers.
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I didn’t know it needs solubilisers. Do you mean something like polysorbate20?
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The Aloe vera Juice I use has no solubilizers just preservatives, Sodium Benzoate & Potassium Sorbate 0.10% each.
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@AmitKaria not as much easy as you think almost ingredients can have solublizers i gave you a start for probable solution of your problem if you want you can make research and may you solve it unless you are free.
@ngarayeva001 something like that Peg 40 , polysorbates are solublizers for oils in aquatic solution so here is not the same we must know what are the type of aloe vera’s compositions ” i guess Aminic acids and sels” and what are the adequat solubilzers of aloe vera’s compositions in water … wish that is clear.
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