Impact of Processing Conditions on Rheology, Tribology and Wet Lubrication Performance of a Novel Amino Lipid Hair Conditioner

Abstract

The objective of this work was to carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of a novel cationic amino lipid surfactant, Brassicyl Valinate Esylate (BVE), in contrast to conventional alkyl quaternary ammonium surfactants (quats), through a study of the effects of process mixing speed on its overall rheological, tribological and wet lubrication performance in comparison to BTAC and CTAC, two cationic surfactants widely used in cosmetics. The major cosmetic application of cationic surfactants is in the preparation of hair conditioners. Hence, this analysis was done firstly by conducting tensile combing tests to evaluate reduction in wet lubrication which translates to conditioning performance. The combing results serve as a testing metric that adequately corresponds to consumer perception of conditioned hair. To correlate this technically, yield stress measurements were conducted to establish rheologic profiles of the conditioner formulations, and in vitro tribological testing of the emulsion systems between two steel surfaces were done to technically simulate the spreading and rubbing of conditioner on the hair. The effect of processing conditions on the formulations was then evaluated. BVE was found to be an effective conditioning surfactant suitable as an eco-friendly replacement for BTAC and CTAC in hair conditioner formulations. The results showed that higher shear mixing rates during formulation lead to poorer performance effects evident through decreased yield stress values, lower percentage reduction in combing force and a higher coefficient of friction.

Effects of surfactant adsorption on the wettability and friction of biomimetic surfaces

“…Friction reductions due to conditioners on undamaged hair have also been observed in macroscopic tress combing experiments at elevated sliding velocities ( v s = 0.1–20 mm s −1 ). 128 Overall, the friction behaviour of virgin hair treated by cationic surfactants and polymers observed in experiments is in good agreement with our NEMD simulations.…”

Hair Lipid Structure: Effect of Surfactants

“…Being positively charged, cationic surfactants rapidly bind to the negatively charged strands by the use of anionic surfactants and reduce the frizz effect. Recent works study the inevitable evolution towards more bio-based, eco-friendly ingredients, reviewing some of the new alternative hair cleaning and conditioning agents obtained from natural sources [79][80][81].…”

On Hair Care Physicochemistry: From Structure and Degradation to Novel Biobased Conditioning Agents

“…Ajayi, et al [ 72 ] conducted a study to evaluate the performance of a novel cationic amino lipid surfactant, brassicyl valinate esylate (BVE), in contrast to conventional alkyl quaternary ammonium surfactants, behentrimonium chloride (BTAC), and cetrimonium chloride (CTAC). The chemical structures of the three cationic surfactants are presented in Figure 10 .…”

“…The results from the tensile combing tests revealed an overall reduction in combing force of 97.81% for the tress treated with BVE. Both BVE and BTAC performed comparably and showed better combing results than CTAC, which can be attributed to the difference in chain length of the hydrophobic tail group among the three surfactants [ 72 ]. Cationic surfactants with a longer alkyl chain usually improve the conditioning effect [ 44 ].…”