Structured Skin Cleansing Composition Without Ethoxylated Surfactants
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing personal care compositions face challenges in achieving a balance between structure and stability while minimizing ethoxylated surfactants to avoid impurities like 1,4-dioxane, and ensuring consumer-desirable attributes such as lather performance and mildness.
Innovation Solution
A personal care composition comprising a cleansing phase with a specific blend of C13 alkyl sulfate anionic surfactants, including a mixture of 2-branched C13 alkyl sulfate anionic surfactants, and a zwitterionic surfactant, along with a structuring system, to create a stable, structured surfactant phase that is free of ethoxylated surfactants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If ethoxylated surfactants are used to achieve desired product profile, then lather performance and solubility are improved, but impurities like 1,4-dioxane are formed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes ethoxylated surfactants from the formulation entirely, extracting the harmful impurity source while maintaining product performance through alternative surfactant combinations. The composition uses non-ethoxylated surfactants such as sodium laureth sulfate alternatives and amine oxide surfactants to achieve lather performance without forming 1,4-dioxane impurities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the surfactant system by substituting ethoxylated compounds with non-ethoxylated alternatives. This parameter change eliminates the formation pathway for 1,4-dioxane while maintaining the desired lather performance through carefully selected surfactant blends with optimized HLB values and molecular structures.
2Stability of the object's composition
If structure is increased in personal care composition, then stability is improved, but performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating distinct functional zones within the composition - a structured phase for stability using electrolytes and thickening agents, and a micellar phase for cleansing performance using non-ionic and amphoteric surfactants. This spatial and functional differentiation allows both stability and performance to coexist without mutual interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite material principles by combining multiple surfactant types (non-ionic, amphoteric, and anionic) with electrolytes and rheology modifiers to create a multi-phase system. The structured phase provides stability while the micellar phase maintains cleansing performance, achieving both goals through material composition rather than single-component optimization.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If ethoxylated surfactants are reduced, then impurity formation is minimized, but structure and stability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary substances - specifically amine oxide surfactants and electrolytes - that mediate between the requirement for structure and the need to minimize impurities. These intermediaries provide structural organization and stability through alternative mechanisms (electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding) that do not rely on ethoxylated chains, thus avoiding 1,4-dioxane formation while maintaining composition integrity.
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 achieves improved structure, stability, and consumer-desirable attributes such as enhanced lather, mildness, and fragrance experience, while minimizing impurities like 1,4-dioxane.
Implementation Method 1
The cleansing phase comprises an anionic surfactant and a zwitterionic surfactant
Implementation Method 2
Personal care compositions can be structured to suspend and stabilize dispersions of benefit agents
Implementation Method 3
The structuring system includes from about 3% to about 10% by weight of the personal care composition, of an electrolyte
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Personal care compositions having at least a cleansing phase and a benefit phase. The cleansing phase includes a surfactant A or a surfactant B. The surfactant A includes a C13 alkyl sulfate anionic surfactant. The surfactantB has a mixture of C12 and C13 alkyl sulfate anionic surfactants. The cleansing phase also includes a zwitterionic surfactant. The zwitterionic surfactant includes an hydroxysultaine. The cleansing phase has a structuring system having: optionally a non-ionic emulsifier; optionally a rheology modifier; and from 3% to 10% by weight of the personal care composition, of an electrolyte. The benefit phase includes a benefit agent.