The Society of Cosmetic Chemists and the HLB System are included in the PDF.
Today's cleaning and regulatory challenges require careful selection of surfactant ingredients.
Formulators need efficient tools to narrow down their choices in the specialty chemical market.
A basic overview of the HLB system is provided in this article.
There are two groups of Surfactant Molecules, one water loving and one oil loving.The proportion of those groups will affect the behavior of the emulsions.
The lower the number, the better the oil is.The higher the numbers, the better the water is.
Surfactants with low HLB values are more suited for water-in-oil emulsions.
The HLB value is proportional to theEO chain length with alcohol ethoxylates.
More specifically, a linear alcohol ethoxylate with 8 moles EO will have a higher HLB value, and better water solubility, than one with 3 moles.
Understanding the importance of the hydrophilic-lipophilic proportions, Griffin devised a method to calculate the HLB values of nonionic surfactants.
The HLB method is based on the idea that the proportion of weight in the two groups for nonionic surfactants is an indication of the behavior that may be expected from that product.
The calculation of the HLB Values of Nonionic Surfactants was done by the Atlas Powder Company.
An HLB value is equal to the percentage of the hydrophilic portion divided by 5.
The linear alcohol ethoxylate example has aEO chain.
The data sheet shows that the EO content is over 70%.The HLB value of this molecule is 13.9%.
The formulators use the HLB system to narrow down potential candidates.
This often involves selecting nonionic surfactants to incorporate into oil-in-water systems.
A formulator will begin the selection process by matching the surfactant values with the oil requirement.
Blending surfactants with high and low HLB values at varying ratios is the most effective because the oil requirements don't always correspond to the nonionic values.
Blending allows formulators to target different HLB requirements and provide a wider range of solubility for cleaning and degreasing performance.
To target a petroleum-based oil with an HLB requirement of 10, a formulator may choose a 50/50 blend of two surfactants.
Blending of surfactants is important to finding an effective and efficient component for formulated solutions.
The ultimate goal is to find the optimal ratio of surfactants to achieve performance goals and maintain emulsion stability, rheology and other desired characteristics, while controlling raw material costs.
Formulators can test different ratios of high and low HLB components in a solution to make the task more efficient.
Many surfactants are available with mid-range HLB values.For a wider range of oil solubility.
The full spectrum of HLB ranges from 0 to 20 can be accommodated by semi-formulated concentrates.
Depending on the ratios of low and high HLB surfactants, mid-range and multi-component concentrates, building emulsion systems can be accomplished.
The weighted average of the HLB requirements of individual oil components is similar to the blended values of surfactants.There is a requirement for a mixture of petroleum and fatty acid.