Technical Brief 2010 Volume 1

SURFACE TENSION FOR AN SAA IN WATER

Surfa

ce T

ensi

on

Increasing SAA Concentration

HLB VALUES AND SAA FUNCTIONALITY

Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC)

Particle Sciences

Table 1

Figure 1

SCHEMATIC OF A SURFACE ACTIVE AGENT (SAA)

“SURFACTANT”

Hydrophile Hydrophobe(“Tail”)(“Head”)

Aliphatic/Aromatic Hydrocarbon or Silicone-based

Charged or Uncharged

Micelle FormationSurface SaturatedSAA at SurfaceSurface

Air

Water

3-6 W/O emulsions

7-9 Wetting agents

8-15 O/W emulsions

13-15 Detergent

15-18 Solubilizer

HLB number Application

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Vesicle PhaseHexagonal PhaseSAA STRUCTURES

Lamellar PhaseAqueous Compartment

Entrapped API

Lipid Bilayer

Figure 2