Vesicle Gel Network Reduces Conditioner Viscosity for Foam Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hair conditioner compositions, particularly those in liquid form, often result in high viscosity when trying to be dispensed as a foam, leading to unattractive, less creamy, and easily collapsed foams, which fail to provide a high-quality, consumer-acceptable wet feel and conditioning experience.
Innovation Solution
A hair conditioner composition with a gel network comprising 1-10 wt.% cationic surfactant and 1-10 wt.% fatty alcohol, predominantly in vesicle form, along with 60-90 wt.% water and 1-10 wt.% propellant, optimized to achieve a viscosity of 5-10,000 cP, allowing for a creamy and high-quality foam delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conditioner composition uses concentrated surfactants and conditioning agents to deliver benefits in reasonable foam volume, then conditioning effectiveness is improved, but viscosity becomes too high to produce high-quality foam
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state parameter of the gel network from lamellar sheets to vesicles by modifying the molecular arrangement and interaction of surfactants and fatty alcohols. This parameter change reduces viscosity while maintaining concentration, enabling high-quality foam production with concentrated conditioning agents.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite gel network structure combining surfactants and fatty alcohols in specific ratios to form vesicles. This composite material approach allows the system to simultaneously achieve high concentration of active ingredients and low enough viscosity for foam dispensing, resolving the contradiction between concentration and foam quality.
2Stability of the object's composition
If conditioner composition uses high levels of high melting point fatty compounds and cationic surfactants to form gel network, then phase stability and wet hair feel are improved, but viscosity becomes too high for foam delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the structural parameter of the gel network from extended lamellar sheets to compact vesicles. This structural parameter change maintains phase stability through the organized arrangement of surfactant and fatty alcohol molecules while reducing the macroscopic viscosity that prevents foam dispensing, thus resolving the contradiction between stability and dispensability.
3Stability of the object's composition
If conditioner composition uses lamellar gel network structure, then phase stability is improved, but foam quality becomes unattractive and less creamy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the gel network structure from flat lamellar sheets to spherical vesicles. This geometric transformation from planar to spherical morphology changes the rheological properties of the composition, reducing viscosity and enabling the formation of creamy, stable foam structures while maintaining phase stability through the organized molecular arrangement in the vesicle walls.
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 effectively reduces viscosity, enabling the production of a high-quality foam that is consumer-preferred in terms of density and compliance, while maintaining excellent wet conditioning performance.
Implementation Method 1
the gel network composition comprises all vesicles or mostly vesicles
Data Source
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AI summary
A hair conditioner composition with a gel network that can contain a fatty alcohol and a cationic surfactant having a chloride counterion. The gel network composition can contain a uniform lamellar structure that comprises all vesicles or mostly vesicles.