NADES Essential Oil Solubility in Personal Care Products
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing eutectic solvents containing metals face health, environmental, and safety issues due to metal leaching, and there is a need for non-metal containing systems that enhance the solubility of essential oils for use in personal care products while ensuring stability and safety.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) composed of plant-based compounds to solubilize essential oils at various concentrations and assess their stability, replacing toxic agents with less toxic NADES formulations in personal care products.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If metal-based eutectic solvents are used, then solubility of essential oils is achieved, but health and environmental safety deteriorates due to metal leaching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the eutectic solvent system by replacing metal-based components with plant-based compounds (amino acids, sugars, organic acids). This parameter change maintains the eutectic solvent functionality and essential oil solubility while eliminating metal leaching toxicity, thus resolving the contradiction between solubility and safety
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs biodegradable plant-based compounds that can be safely degraded in the environment, replacing persistent metal-based solvents. These natural components (amino acids, sugars, organic acids) offer temporary functionality with no long-term environmental harm, resolving the contradiction between achieving solubility and preventing harmful effects
2Reliability
If traditional toxic agents like triethanolamine are used in personal care products, then desired properties are achieved, but safety and toxicity profile deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical safety parameters by replacing toxic traditional agents (triethanolamine) with non-toxic plant-based eutectic solvent components. This substitution maintains product performance reliability while dramatically improving the safety and toxicity profile, resolving the contradiction between performance and safety
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts potentially harmful traditional cosmetic ingredients into beneficial natural alternatives. By using plant-based compounds that form eutectic solvents, the system achieves the desired product properties while eliminating toxicity, effectively converting a harmful approach into a beneficial one
3Quantity of substance
If essential oils are mixed with water, then solubility is improved, but stability deteriorates due to phase separation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces plant-based eutectic solvents as intermediary substances between essential oils and water. These intermediaries (comprised of amino acids, sugars, organic acids) facilitate the mixing of oil and water while maintaining stable homogeneous solutions, resolving the contradiction between water solubility and mixing stability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite solvent system combining plant-based compounds that form eutectic mixtures with essential oils, which then can be stably mixed with water. This composite approach achieves both water solubility and compositional stability by using synergistic combinations of natural components
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances solubility and stability of essential oils in NADES, allowing for the development of less toxic personal care products that maintain desired properties and aroma profiles, while reducing the use of hazardous chemicals like triethanolamine.
Implementation Method 1
The parent components of deep eutectic solvents tend to engage in complex hydrogen bonding networks, which means that the mixture tends to have significant freezing point depressions relative to the parent compounds/components in the mixture
Implementation Method 2
the mixture tends to have significant freezing point depressions relative to the parent compounds/components in the mixture
Data Source
AI summary
Maintaining or enhancing the solubility and stability of natural products in personal products is a desirable characteristic that can be attained by using natural eutectic solvents (NADES). The solubility and stability is shown at a range of concentration levels. Being able to enhance the solubility and/or stability of these natural products such as essential oils and/or fragrances will lead to improved personal care products. These newly formulated personal care products will not only possess the requisite solubility and stability of available products but the use of NADES compositions will also lower the toxicity of the products, thereby making them attractive targets for use and for further study.