Hydrophobic Polyether Urethane and Microgel Thickening Composition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing thickening compositions for cosmetics face challenges in maintaining viscosity stability and providing a fresh, non-sticky feel, especially when incorporating salt-type pharmaceutical ingredients, as they often result in sticky or squaky textures and viscosity changes.
Innovation Solution
A thickening composition combining hydrophobic denatured polyether urethane with a microgel obtained by grinding a hydrophilic compound gel, such as agar or gellan gum, to achieve a synergistic thickening effect that maintains viscosity in a low to moderate range and enhances skin feel without residue, even with salt-type ingredients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a polysaccharide such as xanthane gum is used as a thickener in a system containing both a pharmaceutical ingredient and a salt, then the system stability is excellent, but the composition provides a sticky feeling in use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines a hydrophilic compound gel (such as agar or gellan gum) with a hydrophobic denatured polyether urethane to create a composite thickening system. This composite approach leverages the excellent system stability provided by the polysaccharide gel while the polyether urethane component counteracts the sticky feeling, resulting in a composition that maintains both stability and pleasant sensory properties.
2Ease of operation
If a hydrophilic synthetic polymer such as polyacrylic acid is used as a thickener, then the feeling in use of non-stickiness and freshness is good, but the viscosity of the system decreases when a pharmaceutical ingredient and a salt are highly-incorporated due to poor salt tolerance and ion tolerance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite thickening system combining a hydrophilic compound gel with a hydrophobic denatured polyether urethane. The gel component provides robust viscosity stability even in the presence of high concentrations of pharmaceutical ingredients and salts, while the polyether urethane maintains the pleasant non-sticky and fresh feeling in use that synthetic polymers provide.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a clay mineral such as bentonite is used as a thickener, then the thickening effect is achieved, but the composition provides a feeling of squakiness in use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite thickening system consisting of a hydrophilic compound gel and a hydrophobic denatured polyether urethane. This combination achieves effective thickening similar to clay minerals but eliminates the unwanted squakiness sensation, providing instead a smooth and pleasant feeling in use.
4Stability of the object's composition
If conventional water-soluble thickeners are used individually, then the thickening effect is limited, but combining them produces a synergistic thickening effect that stabilizes viscosity in a low to moderate-level range
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges a hydrophilic compound gel and a hydrophobic denatured polyether urethane into a unified thickening composition. This combination produces a synergistic thickening effect that stabilizes viscosity in the low to moderate-level range, achieving superior performance while maintaining relatively simple formulation and application.
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 composition provides excellent freshness, non-stickiness, and blend into skin feeling while maintaining stable viscosity, preventing viscosity changes when salt-type ingredients are incorporated, thus improving cosmetic formulation stability and usability.
Implementation Method 1
by combining conventional water-soluble thickeners, a synergistic thickening effect which the individual aqueous solutions could not attain can be obtained
Implementation Method 2
a thickening composition which exhibits excellent feelings in use, namely, exhibits excellent freshness, non-stickiness, and blend into skin feeling, and does not leave any residue on skin, and which can stably keep the viscosity in a low to moderate-level viscosity range
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Problem To provide a thickening composition which exhibits excellent feelings in use, namely, exhibits excellent freshness, non-stickiness and blend into skin feeling, and does not leave any residue on skin, which can stably keep the viscosity thereof in a low to moderate-level viscosity range and which, even when a salt-type ingredient is incorporated therein, does not undergo viscosity change, and also a cosmetic preparation containing the composition. Means for Resolution A thickening composition which comprises (a) from 0.1 to 2% by mass of a specific hydrophobic denatured polyether urethane (associative thickener) and (b) from 0.1 to 2% by mass of a microgel to be obtained by grinding a gel of a hydrophilic compound having a gelling capability, in a ratio of component (a) /component (b) of from 0.1/0.9 to 0.9 to 0.1 (by mass), and which has a viscosity of from 50 to 50,000 mPa·s (with BL-type viscometer, 12 rotations, 25°C); and a cosmetic preparation containing the thickening composition.