The demand for the use of natural polymers in the development of cosmetic formulations has become an increasingly emerging theme. The high quantity of waste generated in the development of a product puts into question the green metrics of sustainability associated to the processes. Thus, it is important to search and develop sustainable, biodegradable and biocompatible products, which contribute significantly to the reduction of waste production and by-products, based on a circular and sustainable economy. Polymers such as cellulose and chitosan are currently used for applications in the most diverse areas, from the food industry to the cosmetics industry. Thus, and in order to contribute to a more ecological industry, in this internship, developed in a partnership between the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and the Amyris® company, three projects were carried out. The first consisted in the development of cellulose-based microparticles (microbeads) with exfoliating action; the second in the formulation of a sustainable hair product based on chitosan and cellulose that allowed moulding, increased resistance and treatment of hair fibres; and the third in the development of an ingredient that could be incorporated into a cosmetic formulation, focusing on the use of quaternized cellulose, as a precursor to increase adhesion of the formulation to hair fibres. For all three projects, physicochemical product characterizations were performed, as well as green metrics analysis, which included cost analysis, environmental factor (E-Factor) and product mass intensity (PMI). The results of the microparticles obtained showed that the particles with coagulation bath in water and citric acid were the easiest to obtain and the most economical, besides presenting an irregular shape and size in the order of microns, important parameters for its use as facial or body exfoliant. Furthermore, with the colouring test, it was observed that there was no colour transference from the coloured microparticles to the base cream tested. The chitosan-based hair product was successfully developed, and a homogeneous final product was obtained that conferred strength and elasticity to the hair fibres, as well as restructuring cuticular damage. Finally, the formulation of the ingredient based on quaternized cellulose did not show the expected results in the preliminary tests obtained, which demonstrates the need for optimization in the process of chemical functionalization of cellulose.
- Cellulose
- Sustainability
- Biopolymers
- Hair fiber
- Microparticles
- Mestrado em Engenharia Biomédica
Desenvolvimento de formulações cosméticas com base em celulose
Ribeiro, B. I. R. C. D. S. (Student). 18 Jan 2023
Student thesis: Master's Thesis