• Formulating

  Gel formula wth Salicylic Acid,Carbomer & base,would the base neutralize the acid & impact activity?

  Posted by Humbu_ZA on August 11, 2021 at 10:03 am

  Hi , I am formulating gel, using Carbomer 940 as a gelling agent and neutralizing it with Triethanolamine to get the desired viscosity. 
  I am also adding Salicylic acid to the formula as an active ingredient. I would like to know, would adding the triethanolamine to the formula, to thicken the gel neutralize the salicylic acid and impact it’s activity? 

  em88 replied 3 years, 4 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies

  • ahas-and-bhas
  • carbomer
  • gel-formulation
  • salicylic acid
  • triethanolamine
• 3 Replies

• 

  Pattsi

  Member

  August 11, 2021 at 11:21 am

  At some level yes.

• 

  chemicalmatt

  Member

  August 13, 2021 at 7:13 pm

  To elaborate on the truthful comment from @Pattsi  here: your gel formulation will work just as well at pH 5.8 - 6.2, it just won’t act as fast as one at pH 2.0 - 3.0. Same holds true with the alpha-hydroxy acids. If you need fast results in the dermatology office- use at pH 2. If you can live with an overnight treatment, pH 6 works fine. Sure helps solubilize that salicylic acid too, I might add. Also, tromethamine works better than triethanolamine at both jobs.

• 

  em88

  Member

  August 17, 2021 at 2:49 pm

  What activity exactly? What claims do you have? 

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