Extruded Soap Bar with Hydroxystearic Acid for Antimicrobial Efficacy
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Soap bars superfatted with high amounts of free fatty acids, particularly 12-hydroxystearic acid, become difficult to extrude while maintaining antimicrobial efficacy and lather generation.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating 0.3 to 10% hydroxystearic acid, preferably 12-hydroxystearic acid, into the soap bar composition, which allows for enhanced antimicrobial efficacy and ease of extrusion by forming a lamellar mortar phase that provides rigidity and flexibility, enabling higher water content without compromising processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high amounts of free fatty acids (e.g., 10%) are included to provide enhanced antimicrobial activity, then antimicrobial efficacy is improved, but the soap bar becomes difficult to extrude
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters by specifying that hydroxystearic acid should constitute 50-90% of the total free fatty acid content. This specific compositional parameter change allows the soap bar to maintain high antimicrobial efficacy (with 2-15% total free fatty acids) while remaining easy to extrude, resolving the contradiction between antimicrobial performance and manufacturability.
2Quantity of substance
If high water content is included to improve lather generation and reduce raw material costs, then cost efficiency is improved, but processing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the water content parameter to within the range of 10-20% of total composition. This parameter optimization, combined with the specific free fatty acid composition (particularly hydroxystearic acid), allows the soap bar to achieve good lather generation while maintaining ease of extrusion and processing, thus resolving the contradiction between water content benefits and processing difficulties.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an extruded soap bar composition. It more particularly relates to a soap bar composition which delivers the enhanced antimicrobial benefit to skin while ensuring that the soap bar is easy to extrude. This is achieved by including free fatty acids in the soap bar composition while ensuring that part of the free fatty acid is hydroxy stearic acid.