3.5 High Viscosity, Low Compromise: New Biobased Rheology Modifier Matching Synthetic Performance
- Lovisa Brandt
- Hydrogels are of great industrial interest due to their ability to absorb vast amounts of water while still holding shape through extensive polymer network structures. This ability makes hydrogels adept for application for slow particle release as well as in viscosity control, and as such they are used in a large variety of fields such as medicine, agriculture, and cosmetics. Current hydrogels available to personal care formulators suffer two major problems; the synthetic hydrogel alternatives are non-biodegradable and break into microplastics, while biobased hydrogels need to be included at two- or threefold the concentration to achieve similar performance as synthetics, making the product more expensive to produce while still lacking in final texture and often showing tackiness. Some effort has been made to solve the performance issues for biobased hydrogels by chemical crosslinking; however, this often reduces or completely removes the biodegradability property of the gels, creating the same issue as for synthetic alternatives. We aim to solve these two issues by presenting a hydrogel structure composed of a protein from forest soil bacteria as a crosslinker for a fungal polysaccharide structure. The use of protein as a highly specific crosslinker keeps the biodegradability of the gel whilst simultaneously significantly reducing the amount of polysaccharide required, while using as little as 0.025%[w/v] protein. Our current focus is on viscosity control in cosmetic formulations, working with large and small partner companies. Initial commercial feedback on the hydrogel has been positive, comparing the performance to that of common synthetic hydrogels.