• Formulating

  HEC thick layer separating

  Posted by Gunther on December 27, 2018 at 6:36 pm

  HEC was able to thicken bare water, but when attempting to thicken a CAPB + decyl glucoside formulation a thick layer sinks to the bottom, leaving a thin, liquid layer on top.

  deionized water 50 vol%
  Hydroxyethyl cellulose 2 wt%
  it got much thicker a couple hours later

  added a tiny amount of dilute NaOH
  stir
  some entrapped bubbles from stirring, but same viscosity remains.

  water q.s. to 100% (about 50 vol%)
  if becomes less viscous, with some bubbles

  Now the total volume is 150% of the original one
  Dehyton-K to 7% active CAPB
  Generic Decyl glucoside to 3% active Decyl glucoside

  citric acid qs to pH 6

  stir

  The solution never thickens while stirring
  if allowed to rest, a viscous layer sinks to the bottom, while a water thin layer remains on top.
  How to solve this?

  em88 replied 5 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply

  • cellulose
  • glucosides
  • hec
  • thickeners
  • thickening agents
• 1 Reply

• 

  em88

  Member

  January 7, 2019 at 11:10 am

  I have said this around here 🙂 HEC has incompatibilities with some surfactants. I learned it the hard way myself 
  I simply removed HEC and solved the viscosity with NaCl. You may try HPMC instead. 

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