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How to determine how much Emulsifier you need?
Hello,
My friend, Nowin, and I are doing a profile assigment this year on Chemistry. The assignment we are making is about hairstyling products. We chose polyglyceryl-4-oleate as our w/o emulsifier. We have one week left before we have to hand in a concept version. We have already made a waterbased pomade formula with said ingrediënt:
water based formula:
35.8% water
1% phenoxyethanol
12% Polyglyceryl-4 oleate
21% carnauba wax
0.2% tocopherol
14% mango butter
7% grapeseed oil
7% castor oil
2% orange oil
Based on the amount of oils and water we are using, is 12% of the emulsifier enough to emulsify the water with the oils and how can you determine how much emulsifier you should use for an emulsion? Could you also explain the chemical properties of this emulsifier? This would help us out alot.
The water did not serperate, but it felt really watery when breaking down.
Sincerely,
Duy Nguyen
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17 Replies
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The HLB of Polyglyceryl-4 oleate is 5
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the watery feeling is most likely Ostwald ripening (water phase becoming physically detached from the emulsion); what temperature did you form the emulsion at, and what equipment did you use to form it?
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You kids will need to learn how to run a Google search eventually, but since you have a deadline…
http://www.stephensonpersonalcare.com/products/durosoftr-sf
http://glenncorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Durosoft-PK-SG_Brochure.pdf
http://www.in-cosmetics.com/__novadocuments/37619?v=635260873579430000
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I emulsified the product around 85 degrees celsius.
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decrease water content?
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agree water is too high -borderline for Phase inversion
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@ultraduy try finding the drop point of the oil phase, and form your emulsion 5-10°C above that
in general, unless you have a very high shear mixer (e.g. colloid mill or Ultra Turrax), 85°C is too high for W/O emulsions, as the water solubility of the emulsifier will decrease significantly as it cools, leading to the Ostwald ripening you’ve observed
if you have a very high shear mixer, the water droplets are much smaller, and are more firmly attached to the emulsion interface, reducing the chance of separation
@DRBOB how can it invert with no high-HLB emulsifier present? (without violating the laws of physics, that is)
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Use a high shear mixer. Try adding more emulsifiers and lessen the % of the water.
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@Bill TOGE unstable emulsions with phases close to50 /50 are subject to inversion .Why would you use a High HLB emulsifier for a water in oil emulsion?
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@DRBOB is that 50% w/w, 50% w/v, 50% v/v or 50 mol%?
I’ve heard that tale repeated a number of times, but nobody repeating it has ever clarified which units they’re working in, or exactly why it works the way it claim it does
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Obviously it’s wt/wt but I thought you would know that but you still have time to learn!
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@DRBOB even though it makes no sense whatsoever, and directly contradicts all forms of orthodox science and the 10 years of experience I have at the bench?
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927775715002800 Many more surprised you don’t know other factors in system such as electrolyes can cause inversions-via changing HLB in the system:surfactant used in this case OPG 4 has HLB 6 which is just on the edge-4-6 for W/O so any electrolyte could change it enough for inversion particularly at high water level-may be a stretch but not impossible based on info given.Only ten years on the bench you still have time as I said.(in my case respectfully submitted)
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You should try abil xl 180 and add isohexadecane. It will give you extreme stability in w/o cream. You can highly reduce the oil content around 20% and even not use any wax and make the emulsion at room temperature.
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couldn’t find much info about xl 180, but I found the composition of xl 80 and I could say for sure that blend is going to be very expensive.
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I think the more appropriate question here is:
Why are you only using one low HLB emulsifier? … Calculate the HLB of you oils/butters and choose a high HLB emulsifier to pair with your low HLB emulsifier and calculate the proper amount of each based on the HLB of your oil phase.
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Best to use polymeric emulsifier ie Isolan PDI diisostearl polyglycerol-3 Dimer Dioleate(Evonik)-add 3% to oil phase.
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