Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 30:328–331, 2009

Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

ISSN: 0193-2691 print=1532-2351 online
DOI: 10.1080/01932690802540517

New Values of the Required Hydrophilic-Lipophilic

Balance for Oil in Water Emulsions of Solid Fatty Acids
and Alcohols Obtained from Solubility Parameter and
Dielectric Constant Values
Ricardo C. Pasquali, Carlos Bregni, and Melina P. Taurozzi
Departamento de Tecnologı́a Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquı́mica, Universidad de
Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The goals of this articles are to find a correlation between the required HLB values and the solu-
bility parameters of oils; find a more precise correlation between the required HLB values and the
dielectric constant, than the one obtained by other authors; and to determine the required HLB
values for o/w emulsions of solid fatty acids and alcohols from the values of the solubility para-
meters and dielectric constants, that could be more trustful than the ones obtained by the meth-
odology proposed by Griffin. It was obtained lineal relation between required HLB and solubility
parameter (r ¼ 0.995). Also it was observed lineal relations between required HLB and dielectric
constants or logarithm of the dielectric constant more precise than the one obtained by other
authors.
Keywords Dielectric constant, fatty acids, fatty alcohol, required HLB, solubility parameter

INTRODUCTION
The hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) for the
classification and selection of surface-active agents was first
issued in 1948 in a brochure of the Atlas Powder Com-
pany.[1] The following year, William Griffin, one of the
company’s Chemists, formally presented the HLB concept
in an article published in the first volume of the Journal of
the Society of Cosmetic Chemists.[2] In this article, Griffin
introduced the concepts of the required HLB values for oil
in water (o=w) and for water in oil (w=o) emulsions and
described the methodology used for its experimental deter-
mination. Griffin detailed a list of the required HLB values
that included solid products such as cetyl alcohol, beeswax,
carnauba wax, candelilla wax and stearic acid. The experi-
ments for the determination of the required HLB values of
solids were carried out at 60–70
C. As the water affinity
(and the HLB value) of the nonionic surfactants with poly-
oxyethylene chains decrease as the temperatures rise, the
required HLB values of these solids are consequently
affected by an error in excess.
Gorman and Hall[3] found a lineal correlation (r ¼ 0.85)
between the required HLB values and the logarithm of the
Received 18 November 2007; accepted 8 December 2007.
Address correspondence to Ricardo C. Pasquali, Departa-
mento de Tecnologı́a Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia y Bio-
quı́mica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Junı́n 956, 6
piso (1113),
Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail: rcpasquali@yahoo.com
dielectric constant of oils and between the HLB value and
the logarithm of the dielectric constant of nonionic surfac-
tants. Schott[4] demonstrated a nearly lineal correlation
when the solubility parameter of nonionic surfactants, cor-
rected for hydration by including a hydrogen-bonding
component, was plotted versus the HLB values. These
results and the fact that there exists correlation between
solubility parameters and dielectric constants[5] suggest
that a correlation between the required HLB values and
the solubility parameters of oils could be established. Hav-
ing a mathematic formula that would enable to calculate
the required HLB of an oil from its solubility parameter
would avoid its experimental determination. The latter,
apart from being quite laborious, could be affected by
errors, such as the one mentioned before in the case of solid
products. Thus, for instance, the published HBL required
values for the cetyl alcohol obtained experimentally were:
13,[2] 15,[6] 16,[7] 15.5,[8] and 14.78.[9] On the other hand,
the knowledge of a more precise correlation between the
required HLB and the dielectric constant than the one
obtained by Gorman and Hall[3] would allow calculating
more trustworthy HLB required values for products
formed by complex mixtures, such as oils and natural
waxes or for the oily phase of an emulsion, all of them
obtained from the determination of its dielectric constants.
The dielectric constants are more trustful and easier to
determine than the required HLB values using the techni-
ques that evaluate the emulsion’s stability or the size of

328
 NEW VALUES OF REQUIRED HLB OF SOLID FATTY ACIDS AND ALCOHOLS 329

the drops in the oily phase versus the HLB value of the TABLE 2
emulsifier.[2,10–13] Values of required HLB, solubility parameters and dielec-
The aims of this article are to find a correlation between tric constants of solid fatty acids and alcohols
the required HLB values and the solubility parameters of
oils; find a more precise correlation between the required Solubility
HLB values and the dielectric constant, than the one Required HLB parameter Dielectric
obtained by Gorman and Hall;[3] and to determine the Solid HLB references (J1=2 cm3=2) constant
required HLB values for o=w emulsions of solid fatty acids Cetyl 13 (2) 18.29 3.69b
and alcohols from the values of the solubility parameters alcohol 15 (6)
and dielectric constants published, that could be more 16 (7)
trustful than the ones obtained by the methodology pro- 15.5 (8,16)
posed by Griffin. 14.78 (9)
Stearyl 15–16 (7) 18.20 3.38b
MATERIAL AND METHODS alcohol
The required HLB, the solubility parameters and the 15.5 (8,16)
dielectric constants of the oils and the solids are listed, 13.93 (9)
respectively, in Tables 1 and 2. The solubility parameters Lauric 16 (7) 17.30 Not
were obtained from Vaughan,[14] the dielectric constants acid available
from Gorman and Hall[3] and Lide,[15] and the required Myristic Not 16.57 Not
HLB values from Gorman and Hall,[3] Griffin,[2,6] acid available available
ICI,[7,8,16] and Croda.[9] Palmitic Not 16.14 2.417b
acid available
Stearic 17 (26) 15.83 2.29a
acid
TABLE 1 2.314b
a
Values of required HLB, solubility parameters and From (3).
b
dielectric constants of the oils used for obtaining the From (15).
correlations
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Solubility
parameter The required HLB values of oils are related to the
Required HLB (J1=2 Dielectric solubility parameter (d), in J1=2 cm3=2, (Figure 1) by the
Oil HLB references cm3=2) constant Equation (1), and with the dielectric constant (e) (Figures 2
and 3) by the Equations (2) and (3). SHLB is the typical
Butyl stearate 11 (7) 15.71 3.14b deviation of the required HLB values.
Castor oil 13a (3) 18.20 4.67b
(7)
Cyclomethicone 8.0 (8,16) 12.25 Not Required HLB ¼ 0:8770d  2:79
D4 available r ¼ 0:995 ½1
Cyclomethicone 7.5 (8,16) 11.80 Not
SHLB ¼ 0:2
D5 available
Decyl alcohol 15 (7) 20.00 7.93c
Isopropyl 11.5 (8,16) 16.40 Not
Required HLB ¼ 0:8149 e þ 8:73
myristate available
Isopropyl 11.5 (8,16) 15.91 3.15b r ¼ 0:984 ½2
palmitate SHLB ¼ 0:4
Lauryl alcohol 14 (7) 19.45 6.5b
Mineral oil 10 (7) 14.46 2.1b
Oleyl alcohol 13.5 (7) 18.31 Not Required HLB ¼ 8:34551 log e þ 7:34
available r ¼ 0:989 ½3
Oleic acid 11 (3) 16.18 2.46b SHLB ¼ 0:4
a
Mean value.
b
From (3). Table 3 Provides the values of the required HLB fatty acids
c
From (15). and fatty alcohols calculated in Equations (1), (2), and (3).
330 R. C. PASQUALI ET AL.

FIG. 1. Required HLB of oil versus solubility parameter in J1=2 cm3=2.

FIG. 2. Required HLB of oil versus dielectric constant.

TABLE 3
Calculated required HLB values from Equations (1), (2), and (3).
Calculated required HLB

Solid Equation (1) (0.2) Equation (2) (0.4) Equation (3) (0.4)

Cetyl alcohol 13.2 11.7 12.1

Stearyl alcohol 13.2 11.5 11.8
Lauric acid 12.4 — —
Myristic acid 11.7 — —
Palmitic acid 11.4 10.7 10.5
Stearic acid 11.1 10.6 10.4
 NEW VALUES OF REQUIRED HLB OF SOLID FATTY ACIDS AND ALCOHOLS
FIG. 3. Required HLB of oil versus logarithm of dielectric constant.
CONCLUSIONS
Equation (1) represents the best correlation out of the
three equations obtained that calculate the required HLB
for o=w emulsions. This equation would be the one recom-
mended to calculate the required HLB values for o=w
emulsions of oils or waxes when their solubility parameters
are known. The values obtained from Equation (2) and
Equation (3) are similar. These equations can be used with
products whose composition is complex and also with the
mixture of all the components of an emulsion’s oily phase
after the determination of its dielectric constant.
In the case of the oils, the use of these equations would
allow to estimate the required HLB values in a simpler way
than using the methodology proposed by Griffin. In the
solid products, such as the fatty acids and alcohols, further
to the latter advantage, the values obtained are more trust-
ful than the ones obtained with Griffin’s technique due to
the dependence of the HLB values with the temperature
of the nonionic surfactants used in the experiments.
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[1] Atlas. (1948) Surface Active Agents; Wilmington, Delaware:
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331
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