Technical Brief 2010 Volume 1

Table 1

HLB VALUES AND 

SAA FUNCTIONALITY
HLB number Application
3-6 W/O emulsions
7-9 Wetting agents
8-15 O/W emulsions
13-15 Detergent
15-18 Solubilizer

Figure 1

SURFACE TENSION FOR AN SAA IN WATER SCHEMATIC OF A SURFACE

ACTIVE AGENT (SAA) 
“SURFACTANT”
Hydrophile Hydrophobe
(“Head”) (“Tail”)
Surface Tension

Critical
Micelle
Charged or Aliphatic/Aromatic
Concentration Uncharged Hydrocarbon or
(CMC) Silicone-based

Air SAA at Surface Surface Saturated Micelle Formation

Surface
Water

Increasing SAA Concentration

Particle Sciences
 Figure 2

SAA STRUCTURES
Lamellar Phase Hexagonal Phase Vesicle Phase
Aqueous 
Compartment

Entrapped API
Lipid
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