Volume : 3, Issue : 2, FEB 2017
SCALE RANGING 1?20 OF SURFACTANT DECIDES THE SOLUBILITY OF WATER INTO OIL OR OIL INTO WATER TO PRODUCE MONOPHASIC FORMULATION
Noopur Rami, Shruti Rai, Debojyoti Basu, Saurabh Patel, Yash Patel, Astha Sanyal, Prof. Dr. Dhrubo Jyoti Sen
Abstract
HLB (Hydrophile?Lipophile Balance) is an empirical expression for the relationship of the hydrophilic (water?loving) and hydrophobic (water?hating) groups of a surfactant. The higher the HLB value, the more water?soluble the surfactant. The HLB system is particularly useful to identify surfactants for oil and water emulsification. There are two basic emulsion types: Water?in?oil (W/O): water is dispersed in oil, Oil?in?water (O/W): oil is dispersed in aqueous phase. Water?in?oil emulsions (W/O) require low HLB surfactants. Oil?in?water (O/W) emulsions often require higher HLB surfactants. Surfactant selection for an O/W emulsion can be simplified if the HLB system is applied. Oils have required HLB numbers that identify the HLB necessary to give good o/w emulsification. Often the oil supplier can provide the required HLB value. Alternatively, there are a number of compiled lists in the literature on the required HLB for common waxes and oils. Since overall chemical structure (e.g., branched, linear, aromatic) is also a variable, a number of different surfactants with the required HLB should be examined. Not all surfactants having the same HLB value may be acceptable for an o/w emulsion. HLB values for surfactants can be calculated for simple alcohol ethoxylates. If a surfactant is not a simple alcohol ethoxylate, the HLB value must be determined experimentally. HLB values are additive; therefore, if two different surfactants or oils are present, the HLB will be the weighted average of the HLB values for each component.
Keywords
Surfactant, Amphiphilic, Amphoteric, HLB, Hydrophilic, Lipophilic, Anti?foaming agent, W/O (water in oil) emulsifier, Wetting and spreading agent, Detergent, O/W (oil in water) emulsifier, Solubiliser or Hydrotropic, Anionic surfactants, Cationic surfactants, Zwitterionic surfactants, Nonionic surfactants (Tweens & Spans).
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References
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