The appearance of the product has an important impact. The thickener thickens the system through the rod-shaped micelles formed by the surfactant, the three-dimensional hydration network structure formed by the interaction with water, or by using its own long chain structure of macromolecules. The appearance of cosmetics is of great concern to consumers. Thickeners can increase the viscosity, change the appearance of the product formula, improve the stability of the dispersion or suspension, change the behavior of the fluid, etc.
There are currently many types of thickeners. From the perspective of relative molecular weight, there are low molecular thickeners and polymer thickeners; from the perspective of functional groups, there are electrolytes, alcohols, amides, Carboxylic acids and esters, etc., from the source, include natural polymers, organic synthetic polymers, organic semi-synthetic polymers and inorganic rheology modifiers. Choosing the right thickener is crucial to developing new products.
Today we supply fatty alcohols and fatty acids to let you know: the working principles of fatty alcohols and fatty acids that are often used as thickeners:
Fatty alcohols and fatty acids such as C16~22 alcohols, C16~22 acids and other solids, but be careful not to include liquid substances such as oleyl alcohol and isostearic acid. Fatty alcohols and fatty acids are polar organic compounds. The presence of a small amount of this type of organic matter has a significant impact on the surface tension, critical micelle concentration and other properties of the surfactant. The size of its effect increases with the lengthening of the carbon chain. Generally speaking, it shows a linear relationship. The principle of action is that fatty alcohols and fatty acids can insert (join) surfactant micelles and promote the formation of micelles. At the same time, there may be strong interactions between the molecules of the polar organic matter and the surfactant (between hydrocarbon chains). The hydrophobic interaction plus the hydrogen bonding between the polar heads) causes the two molecules to be oriented and arranged very closely on the surface, which greatly changes the properties of the surfactant micelles and achieves the thickening effect.