A Game-Changing Emulsion Technology

A wax is defined as a heat-sensitive material that is insoluble in water…until now. Jeen International’s new Jeesperse CPW-S (INCI: Sunflower wax, sodium polyacrylate) allows waxes in cold process formulations. It provides a multitude of environmental, monetary and manufacturing efficiencies and will change the way you think an emulsion must be made. The textures achieved are surprising since emulsions have never been made this way before. When breaking with tradition, questions concerning why we have followed the rules need to be asked.

For example, why do we need to heat an emulsion? In the aqueous phase, we may have a gum that must be hydrated at an elevated temperature. We can select gums that swell at lower temperatures, eliminating the need to heat an aqueous phase. The oil phase may have waxes that need to be melted. This is the predominant reason we heat an oil phase. Waxes are used in emulsions to increase the viscosity of the oil phase, improve stability and enhance the aesthetics of an emulsion. Jeesperse CPW ushers in a new way of emulsifying that alters the manufacturing process to a new, easy, efficient way of producing emulsions. It produces a new generation of product innovation using a revolutionary process.

Table 1. Wax Viscosities of Jeesperse CPW

Traditionally, the manufacturing process used to create an emulsion required the use of two mixing vessels: an aqueous phase and an oil phase mixed at an elevated temperature. The required temperature is typically selected to be five degrees higher than the melt point of the highest melting wax. The vessel that is used to emulsify will also need to be cooled. This laborious process was in need of a makeover.

If you don’t heat the emulsion, you don’t need to cool it. No more watching temperature gauges. Water controls the temperature of a mixing vessel. If you don’t have to pump water in and out of a vessel you can reduce water consumption. Jeen’s “cool and easy” process will provide many opportunities to reduce your carbon footprint, conserve water and increase productivity.

Manufacturing times can be shortened as well. Jeesperse CPW can be added to cold aqueous phase at 5-10%. This will swell quickly creating a cream base. Once the base is formed, the oil phase can be added. This oil phase can include esters, silicones, oils, emulsifiers, etc. Jeesperse CPW can be used at lower levels to increase viscosities and change the aesthetics of an existing emulsion. Add 1% of Jeesperse CPW after your emulsion is made and feel the difference.

How It Works
Now you know what Jeesperse CPW can do, but how can chemists disperse a wax into water at a temperature below the wax’s melt point? The technology is a mix of polymeric thickener and waxes.The initial introduction into the market will consist of CPW-2, CPW-3, CPW-5 (which contain Jeen’s polyethylenes and sodium polyacrylate), CPW-S (which contains sunflower wax and sodium polyacrylate) and CPW-P (which contains cetearyl alcohol, polysorbate 60, and sodium polyacrylate). This technology can use functional waxes such as fatty alcohol, fatty acids and emulsifying waxes. Any wax, regardless of melt point, can be made cold water dispersible using Jeen International’s patent pending technology. So, if you can’t break with tradition and still feel the need to heat your emulsion, you can, but now you can heat below the melt point of your waxes.
The viscosities of the aforementioned waxes are described in Table 1 on the previous page.

One of the main definitions of a wax is that, “a wax is not soluble in water.” Jeesperse CPW challenges this long-held belief. But to describe why and how, we must revisit the first chapters of our organic chemistry books. The chapter that describes “intermolecular forces” holds a convincing argument as to why and how. Simply put, these forces can bring molecules together or keep them apart. Waxes are typically non-polar. Polar molecules are soluble in polar solvents and nonpolar molecules are soluble in nonpolar solvents.“Like dissolves like”is a general rule of chemistry. A wax that is non-polar will not dissolve in water, which is a polar ingredient. In contrast, sodium polyacrylate does have polarity. This material’s structure, along with its polarity, allows it to swell in water.

What if we could induce polarity in a nonpolar molecule? Jeesperse CPW uses sodium polyacrylate to induce polarity in a wax. Sodium polyacrylate has a structure that is similar to a wax. The structure can be described as having a comb shape. The backbone of this structure is comprised of carbon and hydrogen. Just like the structure of a wax, it is lipophyllic. The electron clouds of a wax are evenly distributed throughout the molecule. This is why we consider a wax to be non-polar. Compatibility between wax and sodium polyacrylate allows a physical bond to be formed when the two are mixed together. The teeth of this structure are functional groups, which are hydrophyllic. The functional group has an anionic charge. This creates a charge, an uneven distribution of electrons, in the molecule making it a polar molecule. The blending of wax and sodium polyacrylate brings the electron clouds of both molecules into close contact. This contact allows for sodium polyacrylate to induce polarity in a wax. The wax can now be considered to be a polar molecule.

There is another“intermolecular force” that must be discussed if we are to understand why we can disperse a wax in cold water. Let us consider the structure of a wax. A wax is a solid above its melt point. Structurally this means a rigid, crystalline unmoving state; a wax molecule interlocked with other wax molecules. When we heat this wax we allow the molecules to release from each other and to flow freely. This molten wax state is now a liquid. The addition of an oil phase at this point keeps the wax molecules apart when the temperature returns to the temperature above the waxes melt point. Jeesperse CPW blend needs to achieve the same separation of molecules or else the wax would recrystallize and the emulsion would feel gritty.

Melting a wax and then mixing sodium polyacrylate forms Jeesperse CPW. This blend is then congealed forming a solid. This process has been optimized to achieve a perfect distribution of both ingredients. The ratio of wax to sodium polyacrylate has been optimized so that the length of the wax chain has induced polarity. This, as previously described, allows for the dispersion of Jeesperse CPW into cold water. This polarity, or charge, creates the repelling force necessary to keep the wax molecules apart. The melt point of a wax can be described as the point of disassociation.

No Need for Heat
Traditionally the energy used to create this disassociation has been heat. Jeen International’s Jeesperse CPW technology has achieved disassociation without the need to heat. Jeesperse CPW delivers the need for less energy, greater efficiency, easy use and great new textures. In a conventional emulsion, we line up oil-to-oil and water-to-water. Emulsifiers, as we know, have an alkyl chain, lipophillic end, and a functional group, a hydrophyllic end. The polar molecule, sodium polyacrylate, comes into close contact with a non-polar molecule, a wax. The wax’s electrons are induced to behave like a polar molecule. The wax takes on the attributes of the sodium polyacrylate and the blend can be dispersed in cold water.

Here are several formulas that contain Jeesperse CPW:

Hydrogel Paint
INGREDIENTS% WT.
Phase A
Water59.30
Shea butter5.00
Cocoa butter USP deodorized2.00
Coconut oil 5.00
Jeechem CTG (Jeen)5.00
(Caprylic/capric triglyceride)
Jeecide CAP-5 (Jeen)0.80
(Phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, potassium sorbate,
water, hexylene glycol)
Jeesilc EM-90 (Jeen)2.00
(Cetyl PEG/PPG-10 dimethicone)
Performa V 825 (New Phase)2.50
(synthetic wax)
Phase B
Jeesperse CPW-S (Jeen)4.00
(Sunflower wax, sodium polyacrylate)
Phase C
SW40R7C (Kobo)1.00
(Red 7)
SW60ER (Kobo)5.00
(Red oxide)
SW55EB (Kobo)1.40
(Black oxide)
Mica (Kobo)3.00
KTZ Copper (Kobo)3.00
(Mica and iron oxide)
Superb Silver (Kobo)1.00
(Mica and titanium dioxide)

PROCEDURE:
Mix and heat phase A to 70-75°C. Add phase B mix until homogenous. Add phase C mix until homogenous. Mix while cooking to room temperature.


Velvet Primer
INGREDIENTS:% WT.
Phase A
Deionized water75.0
Jeesperse CPW-2 (Jeen)6.0
(Polyethylene, sodium polyacrylate)
Phase B
Jeelux D2T (Jeen)5.0
(Isohexadecane, dimethicone, triisosteryl citrate, bis-vinyl
dimethicone/dimethicone copolymer)
Jeesilc EM-90 (Jeen)2.0
(Cetyl PEG/PPG-10 dimethicone)
Jeesilc DS-8 (Jeen)1.0
(PEG-8 dimethicone)
Jeechem CTG (Jeen)10.0
(Caprylic/capric triglyceride)
CAP-5 (Jeen)1.0
Phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, potassium sorbate, water,
hexylene glycol)

Procedure:
Mix phase A to room temperature. Add phase B until homogenous.


Cool Lotion I
INGREDIENTS:% WT.
Phase A
Deionized water84.0
Jeesperse CPW-P (Jeen)5.0
(Steareth-20, polysorbate 60, PEG-150 stearate)
Phase B
Sesame oil (Jeen)2.0
Jeesilc PDS-350 (Jeen)2.5
(Dimethicone)
Glycerine 99% (Jeen)3.5
Jeechem IPM , NF (Jeen)2.0
(Isopropyl myristate)
Jeecide G-11 (Jeen)1.0
(Propylene glycol, diazolidinyl urea, methyl paraben,
propyl paraben)

PROCEDURE:
Mix phase A at room temperature. Add phase B until homogenous.


Cool Lotion II
INGREDIENTS:% WT.
Phase A
Deionized water76.0
Jeesperse CPW-B (Jeen)7.0
(Beeswax. sodium polyacrylate)
Phase B
Mineral oil (Jeen)4.0
Jeechem IPM (Jeen)2.0
(Isopropyl myristate)
Jeesilc PDS-350 (Jeen)3.0
(Dimethicone)
Glycerine 99% (Jeen)5.0
Sweet Almond Oil (Jeen)1.0
(Prunus amygdalus dulcis oil)
Avocado Oil1.0
(Persea gratissima oil)
Jeecide G-II (Jeen)1.0
(Propylene glycol, diazolidinyl urea, methyl paraben,
propyl paraben)

PROCEDURE:
Mix phase A at room temperature. Add phase B until homogenous.


About the Author
Juan Mateu is director of new innovation at Jeen International, Fairfield, NJ. He can be reached at 973-439-1401. Email: juan@jeen.com. More info: www.jeen.com