Sulfo-estolides for Foaming and Viscosity in Personal Care

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Solution Overview

Problem

Personal care compositions often face challenges in balancing performance properties such as foaming, cleansing, mildness, and skin feel, with the addition of components typically enhancing one property at the expense of others, and there is a trend towards using naturally derived ingredients.

Innovation Solution

The use of sulfo-estolides in personal care compositions, which provide enhanced foaming properties and adjustable viscosity without compromising other desirable properties, such as cleansing ability and skin feel, by incorporating sulfo-estolides as secondary surfactants or feel enhancers in formulations like liquid hand soaps, shampoos, and body washes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If additional surfactant components are added to enhance foaming properties, then foaming capability is improved, but formulation complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefoaming capabilityVSAvoidformulation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Sulfo-estolides serve multiple functions simultaneously: they act as surfactants for foaming, viscosity modifiers for texture control, and mildness enhancers for skin compatibility. This multi-functionality allows a single ingredient to address multiple performance requirements without proportionally increasing formulation complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent utilizes the ability to adjust the degree of sulfonation and esterification in sulfo-estolides to optimize performance. By changing these chemical parameters, the same base compound can be tuned to provide different ratios of foaming, viscosity, and mildness properties, reducing the need for multiple different surfactant ingredients

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If traditional surfactants are used to achieve good foaming, then foaming is improved, but mildness and skin feel deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefoaming capabilityVSAvoidmildness

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Sulfo-estolides represent a composite molecular structure combining ester linkages from fatty acids with sulfonate groups, creating a hybrid surfactant that exhibits both the foaming properties of traditional surfactants and the mildness of natural fatty acid derivatives. This composite structure enables simultaneous achievement of good foam and skin compatibility

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs controlled sulfonation of fatty acid esters to adjust the balance between hydrophobic and hydrophilic character. By optimizing the sulfonation degree and chain length parameters, the surfactant achieves effective foaming while maintaining sufficient mildness for sensitive skin applications

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Object-affected harmful factors

If viscosity is increased to improve skin feel, then skin feel is improved, but foaming and rinsing properties deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveskin feelVSAvoidfoaming capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

Sulfo-estolides provide dynamic viscosity characteristics that allow the formulation to exhibit different rheological behaviors under different conditions: higher viscosity at rest for improved skin feel and lower viscosity during agitation for enhanced foaming. This dynamic response resolves the contradiction between static and dynamic performance requirements

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

4Productivity

If more active ingredients are used to enhance performance, then cleansing and foaming are improved, but cost and formulation complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecleansing performanceVSAvoidformulation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Sulfo-estolides function as multi-task ingredients providing cleansing, foaming, viscosity control, and mildness enhancement in a single component. This reduces the total number of active ingredients needed while maintaining or improving overall performance, thereby reducing formulation complexity and potential ingredient interactions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

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

Sulfo-estolides enhance foaming capabilities and allow for viscosity adjustment, maintaining or improving cleansing and skin feel, while potentially reducing the amount of active ingredients needed, thus offering cost-effective and effective personal care products.

Implementation Method 1

sulfo-estolides in personal care compositions, which provide enhanced foaming properties

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectSurfactant action: Surfactant

Implementation Method 2

adjustable viscosity without compromising other desirable properties

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectViscosity modification: Viscometer

Data Source

PatentUS8124577B2Personal care compositions of sulfonated estolides and other derivatives of fatty acids and uses thereof

Publication Date: 2012.02.28 STEPAN COMPANY

AI summary

Formulations of personal care compositions and personal care concentrate compositions containing sulfo-estolides are described. Personal care compositions of the present technology include liquid hand soaps, bath and shower washes, shampoos, 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 shampoos, antidandruff shampoo, facial cleaners, among others.