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Can such base make soap ?
Hi all , Trying to make softer soap then KOh and NaOh one , the idea is to use softer base wich is Potassuin citrate .
So have somone here did such experience or have an idea if it can leads to a soap or a Tensioactif product .
Any idea will be soo appreciated and thanks in advance . -
7 Replies
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Potassium citrate is not a base, it is a salt.
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It is Alkaline salt that can react as base .
http://https//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_citrate -
I suggest you try it and see, then.
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Trisodium citrate, depending on batch & quality, is very slightly to slightly alkaline. Saponification is an acid/base catalysed reaction and hence, it will work with the weakest acid or base but reaction time will be terribly long and/or require elevated temperature (and eventually high pressure).Try it out! What you might want to consider is adding some potassium hydroxide or potassium soap to get the oil to emulsify with the water phase because that first step is the one which determines reaction speed in the beginning. Overcoming this first hurdle will help speeding up the whole process considerably
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@Fekher If you look at the different pKa values you’ll notice that one carboxylate of citric acid is more acidic than fatty acids and hence will not contribute to saponification, one has an equal pKa and hence will at best neutralise 50% of built fatty acid but won’t actually catalyse hydrolysis (and therefore there will be no free fatty acid to begin with) and only the third contributes to the reaction. Therefore, your final soap will contain 1 part glycerol, 3 parts potassium soap (neutralised fatty acids), and 3 parts dipotassium hydrogen citrate. That’s a lot citrate salt, approximately as much as there’s soap in it! In other words, if you were to take coconut oil, you’d have to take, on a weight basis, more potassium citrate than oil. Sure you want to do that?
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@Pharma actually i asked for that to get others better ideas then mine , and that’s what you gave me . from your ideas i saw the weakness of mine , so now i’am not motiveted to do the experience but may later i will do it to see the quality of such soap .
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