Nonionic Surfactant Foam with Dual-Light Transmission Shell
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing foam formulations using ionic surfactants for skin applications face challenges in achieving non-irritating, stable foams due to skin irritation concerns and limitations in foamability, particularly with hydrophobic ingredients, and there is a lack of effective screen foamer compositions using solely hydrophilic ingredients.
Innovation Solution
A foam composition utilizing a non-ionic surfactant with a polyhydric alcohol having a hydrophobic end and a polysaccharide, where the bubble shell has a high and low light transmission region structure, stabilizing over time to reduce skin irritation and enhance foam stability, and a screen foamer composition with specific ingredient ratios for improved foamability and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If ionic surfactants are used to form foam through a screen foamer, then foamability is improved, but skin irritation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical nature of the surfactant from ionic to non-ionic, fundamentally altering the formulation parameters. This substitution maintains foam generation capability while eliminating the skin irritation associated with ionic surfactants, particularly anionic types. The non-ionic surfactant creates a different interfacial behavior that is gentler on skin barriers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite surfactant system combining non-ionic surfactant with specific polyhydric alcohols (glycerol, 1,3-butanediol) and polysaccharides. This composite formulation synergistically enhances foam stability and skin compatibility, where each component contributes unique properties that collectively resolve the contradiction between foamability and skin irritation.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If non-ionic surfactants are used instead of ionic surfactants, then skin irritation is reduced, but foam stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces polyhydric alcohols (glycerol, 1,3-butanediol) as intermediary substances that mediate between the non-ionic surfactant and the foam structure. These intermediaries enhance the cohesive forces within the foam matrix, providing structural support and stability that compensates for the inherently weaker bubble shell strength of non-ionic surfactants alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite foam system where non-ionic surfactant, polyhydric alcohols, and polysaccharides work synergistically. The polysaccharides form a gel-like network that entraps air bubbles, while polyhydric alcohols modify the interfacial properties, collectively providing foam stability despite using non-ionic surfactants that individually would produce less stable foam.
3Productivity
If hydrophobic ingredients are added to improve foam structure, then foamability is improved, but skin irritation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance by using exclusively hydrophilic ingredients. Instead of adding hydrophobic components to improve foam structure, the patent achieves stable foam through hydrophilic polyhydric alcohols and polysaccharides that form a hydrated matrix, eliminating the need for potentially irritating hydrophobic substances while maintaining foam quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional hydrophobic foam-stabilizing ingredients with hydrophilic alternatives that, while individually less foam-active, collectively provide sufficient stability through their combined hydrophilic network. This substitution uses safer, more biocompatible substances that are rapidly metabolized or rinsed away, reducing cumulative irritation.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If screen foamer composition uses only hydrophilic ingredients, then skin safety is improved, but foamability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite system of hydrophilic ingredients including non-ionic surfactant, polyhydric alcohols, and polysaccharides that work synergistically. The non-ionic surfactant provides initial foam generation, while polyhydric alcohols and polysaccharides form a hydrated matrix that traps and stabilizes bubbles, collectively achieving satisfactory foamability despite all components being hydrophilic.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the hydrophilic polyhydric alcohols and polysaccharides perform multiple functions: they act as humectants for skin hydration, foam stabilizers for bubble maintenance, and structure-forming agents for the foam matrix. This multi-functionality compensates for the lack of dedicated hydrophobic foam-stabilizing components, achieving both skin safety and adequate foamability.
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
The foam composition provides high safety and excellent stability, suitable for external skin preparations without physical irritation, and the evaluation method ensures the selection of suitable screen foamer compositions for effective foam formation.
Implementation Method 1
a composition having a low surface tension together with a liquefied gas which forms foam due to vaporization and volumetric expansion of liquefied gas
Implementation Method 2
a polyhydric alcohol having a hydrophobic end and a polyhydric alcohol having 2 to 6 carbon atoms in which hydroxyl groups are bonded to all the carbon atoms
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a product that is able to produce good foam even from a screen foamer composition using a nonionic surfactant. This foam contains a nonionic surf actant, comprises an air layer and a foam shell encapsulating said air layer, and is characterized in that: the foam shell has a high light transmission region which is optically transparent and a low light transmission region which is less optically transparent than the high light transmission region, both regions being disposed so as to extend across the surface of the foam shell in such a manner as to form an identifiable boundary therebetween; and when the foam is left still at 25°C or lower, the area occupied by the low light transmission region grows over time with respect to the surface area of the foam shell so as to cause the entire surface of the foam shell to end up being occupied by the low light transmission region.