Chinelli Sofia, Cenciarelli Fabia, Giuri Demetra, Tomasini Claudia
Dipartimento di Chimica Giacomo Ciamician, Università di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti, 85, 40129 Bologna, Italy.
Gels. 2025 Apr 25;11(5):320. doi: 10.3390/gels11050320.
Cosmetic formulations are complex mixtures of ingredients that must fulfill several requirements. One of the challenges of the cosmetic industry is to find natural alternatives to replace synthetic polymers, preserving desirable sensory characteristics. The aim of this work is to induce the formation of gels, by replacing synthetic polymers with a low-molecular-weight gelator (LMWG), a small molecule able to self-assemble and form supramolecular networks. The impact of low-molecular-weight gelators on the environment is reduced as they are highly biodegradable. Thus, the behavior of solutions containing Boc-L-Dopa(Bn)-OH, an LMWG, together with ten different anionic surfactants, was studied to understand if the LMWG may act as a rheological modifier by increasing the viscosity of the formulation or forming gels with these ingredients. An amphoteric surfactant, cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB), often used to increase cleansing gentleness, was also added to the solutions to better mimic a cosmetic formulation. In most cases, the addition of the gelator at only a 1% / concentration induces the gelification or an increase in the viscosity of the solutions, thus showing that this molecule is also able to self-assemble in complex mixtures.
化妆品配方是必须满足多项要求的成分复杂混合物。化妆品行业面临的挑战之一是找到天然替代品来取代合成聚合物，同时保留理想的感官特性。这项工作的目的是通过用低分子量凝胶剂（LMWG）替代合成聚合物来诱导凝胶形成，低分子量凝胶剂是一种能够自组装并形成超分子网络的小分子。低分子量凝胶剂对环境的影响较小，因为它们具有高度的生物降解性。因此，研究了含有LMWG Boc-L-Dopa(Bn)-OH以及十种不同阴离子表面活性剂的溶液的行为，以了解LMWG是否可以通过增加配方的粘度或与这些成分形成凝胶来充当流变改性剂。还向溶液中添加了一种常用于提高清洁温和性的两性表面活性剂椰油酰胺丙基甜菜碱（CAPB），以更好地模拟化妆品配方。在大多数情况下，仅以1%的浓度添加凝胶剂就会导致溶液凝胶化或粘度增加，从而表明该分子也能够在复杂混合物中自组装。
