HLB

The use of the HLB system can be illustrated as follows. Suppose that a certain... 

The phase-inversion temperature (PIT) is defined as the temperature where, on heating, an oil—water—emulsifier mixture inverts from O/W to a W/O emulsion [23]. The PIT correlates very well with the HLB as illustrated in Fig. XIV-10 [72, 73]. The PIT can thus be used as a guide in emulsifier selection. 

The HLB system has made it possible to organize a great deal of rather messy information and to plan fairly efficient systematic approaches to the optimiza-tion of emulsion preparation. If pursued too far, however, the system tends to lose itself in complexities [74]. It is not surprising that HLB numbers are not really additive their effective value depends on what particular oil phase is involved and the emulsion depends on volume fraction. Finally, the host of physical characteristics needed to describe an emulsion cannot be encapsulated by a single HLB number (note Ref. 75). 

Fig. XIV-10. The correlation between the HLB number and the phase inversion temperature in cyclohexane of nonionic surfactants. (From Ref. 71.)...

A surfactant mixture having an HLB number of 8 should give a good W/O emulsion in which the oil phase is lanolin. Suggest two possible surfactant mixtures that you, an aspiring cosmetic chemist, might use you have been told that your formulations must contain 10% cetyl alcohol. 

COLORANTS FORFOOD,DRUGS,COSTffiTICS AND TffiDICALDEVICES] (Vol 6) HLB. See Hydrophile-lipophile balance. 

Emulsifiers are classified by the hydrophilic—lipophilic balance (HLB) system. This system indicates whether an emulsifier is more soluble in water or oil, and for which type of emulsion (water-in-oil or oil-in-water) it is best suited. Emulsifiers having alow HLB value are more oil soluble, and are better suited for water-in-oil appHcations such as margarine. Conversely, emulsifiers having a high HLB value are more water soluble, and function more effectively in oil-in-water emulsions such as ice cream (34). The use of this system is somewhat limited because the properties of emulsifiers are modified by the presence of other ingredients and different combinations of emulsifiers are needed to achieve a desired effect. The HLB values of some common emulsifiers are given (35). 

An a priori method for choosing a surfactant was attempted by several researchers (50) using the hydroph i1 e—1 ip oph i1 e balance or HLB system (51). In the HLB system a surfactant soluble in oil has a value of 1 and a surfactant soluble in water has a value of 20. Optimum HLB values have been reported for latices made from styrene, vinyl acetate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, and their copolymers and range from 11 to 18. The HLB system has been criticized as being imprecise (52). 

The optimum surfactant hydrophi1ic 1ipophi1ic balance (HLB) for wash deinking is dependent on ink composition. Surfactants with a HLB of about 14.5 provide the highest deinked newsprint brightness (24). The optimum deinking surfactant HLB for ledger inks is 13—14, whereas that for toner inks is 10-11 (25). 

Nonionic surfactants are often characterized ia terms of their hydrophi1 e—1 ipophi1 e balance (HLB) number (see Emulsions). For simple alcohol... 

The hydrophile—hpophile balance (HLB) is an empirical system based on the fact that oil—water (o/w) emulsions are best stabilized by water-soluble-emulsifiers and water—oil (w/o) emulsions are best stabilized by oil-soluble ones (3). The HLB scale mns from 0—20 and is based on the ratio of the saponification number of ester, A, to the acid number of recovered acid, where HLB = 20 1-Sj A). The dispersibiUty of an emulsifier in water is related to HLB value. 

Table 3 gives HLB values of some of the important emulsifiers. The HLB optimum for a given emulsifier varies with the components of the food system. A coconut oil—water emulsion that shows optimum stabiUty with an HLB of 7—9 shows a shift ia requirements for stabiUty upon addition of caseia and electrolytes to an optimum stabiUty usiag an emulsifier having an HLB of 3—5. In addition, the stabiUty of an emulsion can be affected by the chemical nature of the emulsifier. The optimum HLB for an emulsifier ia a given system is iafluenced by the other iagredients as is illustrated for a model synthetic milk system ia Figures 1 and 2. 

Fig. 1. Effect of system components on emulsifier HLB. (------), fat—caseiaate-salts-water—emulsifier (—), fat—water—emulsifier (4).

In most cases, these active defoaming components are insoluble in the defoamer formulation as weU as in the foaming media, but there are cases which function by the inverted cloud-point mechanism (3). These products are soluble at low temperature and precipitate when the temperature is raised. When precipitated, these defoamer—surfactants function as defoamers when dissolved, they may act as foam stabilizers. Examples of this type are the block polymers of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide) and other low HLB (hydrophilic—lipophilic balance) nonionic surfactants. 

Furthermore, in a series of polyoxyethylene nonylphenol nonionic surfactants, the value of varied linearly with the HLB number of the surfactant. The value of K2 varied linearly with the log of the interfacial tension measured at the surfactant concentration that gives 90% soil removal. Carrying the correlations still further, it was found that from the detergency equation of a single surfactant with three different polar sods, was a function of the sod s dipole moment and a function of the sod s surface tension (81). 

At low temperature, nonionic surfactants are water-soluble but at high temperatures the surfactant s solubUity in water is extremely smaU. At some intermediate temperature, the hydrophile—Hpophile balance (HLB) temperature (24) or the phase inversion temperature (PIT) (22), a third isotropic Hquid phase (25), appears between the oil and the water (Fig. 11). The emulsification is done at this temperature and the emulsifier is selected in the foUowing manner. Equal amounts of the oil and the aqueous phases with aU the components of the formulation pre-added are mixed with 4% of the emulsifiers to be tested in a series of samples. For the case of an o/w emulsion, the samples are left thermostated at 55°C to separate. The emulsifiers giving separation into three layers are then used for emulsification in order to find which one gives the most stable emulsion. 

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