Structured surfactant suspending systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9668474-B2
Application number	US-201414455035-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 8, 2014
Priority date	Feb 10, 2012
Publication date	Jun 6, 2017
Grant date	Jun 6, 2017

Abstract

A structured surfactant system with a very high degree of clarity. The system comprises water and a mixture of at least one surfactant having a HLB (Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance) value of less than 10, and at least one surfactant having an HLB value of 10 or greater. The structured surfactant system forms multilamellar vesicles and has suspending properties without added electrolytes, carbohydrates, or polymeric thickeners. This makes the structured surfactant system particularly useful in personal care compositions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aqueous structured surfactant system comprising:
from 5% to about 40% by weight of a mixture of surfactants wherein the mixture of surfactants, comprises:
at least one surfactant having an HLB value of less than 10 selected from glyceryl esters having linear saturated alkyl chains, fatty alcohol ethoxylates having linear saturated alkyl chains, and mixtures thereof; and
at least one surfactant having an HLB value of 10 or greater selected from alkyl amine oxide, alkyl sulfate, alkyl ether sulfate, alpha-sulpho methyl esters, sarcosinates, taurides, propionates, betaines, sulfobetaines, glycinates, sodium cholate, alkyl polyglucoside, fatty acid soaps, ethoxylated sorbitan esters, and sucrose esters, the mixture of surfactants having an overall HLB value in the range of about 11 to about 13;
optionally, from about 1% to 15% by weight of the structured surfactant system of one or more hydroxyl containing compounds having at least two hydroxyl groups;
and water in an amount to balance the structured surfactant system to 100%;
wherein the mixture of surfactants forms multilamellar vesicles with a droplet size of less than 2500 angstroms and a bilayer spacing below 60 angstroms;

wherein the structured surfactant system is free of electrolytes, polymeric thickeners, and carbohydrate structurants; and
wherein the structured surfactant system is transparent in the absence of any suspended matter, and has a yield value that enables the structured surfactant system to suspend solid, liquid, or gas particles throughout the system without sedimentation or creaming.

2. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the glyceryl esters are glyceryl caprylate/caprate esters.

3. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl containing compounds are present in the structured surfactant system in an amount of about 1% to about 10% by weight.

4. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the hydroxyl containing compounds comprise glycerol, a polyglycerol or mixtures thereof.

5. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the structured surfactant system further comprises particles of solid, liquid or gas suspended stably within the system.

6. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the at least one surfactant having an HLB value of less than 10 to the at least one surfactant having an HLB value of 10 or greater present in the system is from about 4:1 to about 1:4.

7. A composition comprising the structured surfactant system of claim 1 .

8. The composition of claim 7 , wherein the composition is a personal care composition, a pharmaceutical preparation, a laundry composition, a fabric softener composition, an agricultural composition, or a hard surface cleaner.

9. A personal care composition comprising:
(a) a structured surfactant system comprising:
(i) from about 5% to about 40% by weight of the structured surfactant system of a mixture of surfactants, wherein the mixture of surfactants comprises at least one surfactant having an HLB value of less than 10 selected from glyceryl esters having linear saturated alkyl chains, fatty alcohol ethoxylates having linear saturated alkyl chains and mixtures thereof, and at least one surfactant having an HLB value of 10 or greater selected from alkyl amine oxide, alkyl sulfate, alkyl ether sulfate, alpha-sulpho methyl esters, sarcosinates, taurides, propionates, betaines, sulfobetaines, glycinates sodium cholate, alkyl polyglucoside, fatty acid soaps, ethoxylated sorbitan esters, and sucrose esters, wherein the mixture of surfactants has an overall HLB value in the range of about 11 to about 13,
(ii) optionally, from about 1% to about 15% by weight of the structured surfactant system of a hydroxyl-containing material having at least two hydroxyl groups, and
(iii) water in an amount to balance the structured surfactant system to 100%,

wherein the mixture of surfactants produces multilamellar vesicles with a droplet size of less than 2500 angstroms and a bilayer spacing below 60 angstroms; and
(b) at least one of solid, liquid or gaseous particles suspended in the structured surfactant system.

10. The personal care composition of claim 9 , wherein the surfactant having an HLB value of less than 10 is glyceryl caprylate/caprate.

11. The personal care composition of claim 9 , wherein the at least one surfactant having an HLB value of 10 or greater comprises alkyl amine oxide, alkyl sulfate, alkyl ether sulfate, alkyl polyglucoside, fatty acid soaps, ethoxylated sorbitan esters, and sucrose esters.

12. The personal care composition of claim 9 , wherein the at least one hydroxyl containing compound is present in the structured surfactant system in an amount of about 1% to about 10% by weight.

13. The personal care composition of claim 9 , wherein the hydroxyl containing compound comprises glycerol, a polyglycerol or mixtures thereof.

14. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the surfactant having an HLB value of less than 10 does not comprise a fatty acid.

15. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the glyceryl esters have an alkyl chain length of 6 to 18 carbon atoms.

16. The aqueous structured surfactant system of claim 1 , wherein the fatty alcohol ethoxylates have from 1 to 4 moles of ethylene oxide.

Assignees

• Stepan Co

Inventors

• Hawkins John
• Pace Emilie
• Lebert Laetitia

Classifications

• C11D1/146

  Sulfuric acid esters · CPC title

• A61K8/342

  Alcohols having more than seven atoms in an unbroken chain · CPC title

• C11D1/90

  Betaines · CPC title

• A61K8/375

  the alcohol moiety containing more than one hydroxy group · CPC title

• C11D1/72

  Ethers of polyoxyalkylene glycols · CPC title