HAIR CARE 57
Naturally-derived polymer for heat styling of hair
n Neil Kilcullen, Julie Bacon, Alice Larribau, Maeva Seurin – Itaconix, UK
Sustainability is a key concern across a range of activities worldwide. Personal care product development is no exception. This is exemplified by the Personal Care Products Council featuring sustainability prominently in its commitments.1
Naturally-
derived and sustainable materials are therefore in increasing demand for use in personal care and the RevCare Natural Effects polyitaconate product range has been developed to meet these demands. Itaconic acid-based materials are a sustainable alternative to acrylic acid based materials since itaconic acid may be manufactured economically in industrial quantities by fermentation of carbohydrates with the fungus Aspergillis terreus. The best yields are achieved using glucose or sucrose as the substrate but other carbohydrate sources such as starch, molasses and corn syrup hydrolysates can be used.2
In 2004, the US Department of
Energy Bio-Based Chemical Report highlighted itaconic acid as one of the top value added materials derived from biomass but identified limitations of the polymerisation process as a key barrier to commercial success.3
TT=0
care polymer that can be added to styling products to help prevent heat damage. These polyitaconate polymers are manufactured using our green process with a very high energy efficiency which when combined with the use of water as the only solvent results in a very low impact on the environment. In this study the benefit of one of these polyitaconate polymers, RevCare HP, for use in heat styling applications has been demonstrated. RevCare HP can perform at least as well as benchmark synthetic polymers in style retention tests and help prevent heat damage as assessed using tensile strength measurements, comb resistance measurements and SEM imaging. RevCare HP (hereafter referred to as ‘sodium polyitaconate’) also rinses from hair easily so will not build up during repeated use. Consequently, sodium polyitaconate offers
a viable alternative to synthetic materials in heat styling hair care applications.
Style retention test
Hair can be styled either by modifying the configuration of wet fibres and allowing the hair to dry in this configuration or through the use of heat using curling tongs, straightening irons or hair dryers. In these scenarios hydrogen bonds in the hair are broken when the fibres are wetted or heated and are reformed on drying or cooling to ambient temperature.5
The
styling achieved is of course only temporary and hair will return to its natural configuration over time. To prolong the desired configuration a consumer can use a styling product. The data presented in this article were obtained using the heat process.
High humidity style retention is generally
However, production
technologies developed at Itaconix have enabled this barrier to be overcome. Based on our breakthrough economics, the company continues to develop an expanding line of itaconic acid based polymers with properties that can be tailored to meet specific customer needs or market demands. Although ingredients of natural origin have become increasingly desirable in hair care, there is still a need for them to offer at least comparable, preferably superior, performance to the petrochemical based materials they are replacing.4
Itaconix has
developed the RevCare Natural Effects product range to offer product developers materials that meet both these requirements. RevCare NE 100S (INCI: Sodium Polyitaconate) is a hair styling polymer that combines natural origin with excellent hair styling performance and a superior soft natural feel on hair. RevCare HP (INCI: Sodium Polyitaconate) is a hair
September 2018
Control TT=24 hours
Sodium Polyitaconate
Styrene Sulfonate Copolymer
Acrylamide/ Acrylate Copolymer
Polyurethane Copolymer
Control
Sodium Polyitaconate
Styrene Sulfonate Copolymer
Acrylamide/ Acrylate Copolymer Figure 1: Digital images of styled tresses after exposure to high humidity. PERSONAL CARE EUROPE
Polyurethane Copolymer
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