Nanotechnology makes for better hair care products and textile microfibers
Nanotechnology researchers now have developed a natural and non-damaging hair surface engineering technique for making hair coloring formulations that do not use any chemical reactions but instead relies only on physical forces acting at a very close range. They have published their findings in Nanoscale ("Self-assembly of clay nanotubes on hair surface for medical and cosmetic formulations").
"We use a nanometric tubule clay powder, add it to a water-based dye/drug solution and simply wash hair with it, coating the surface with a thin layer of the microtubes," explains Abhishek Panchal (https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishek-panchal-8a398043/) , a PhD Student in Micro and Nanosystems Engineering at Lousiana Tech University and first author of the paper. "The coating, which colors the hair, is not noticeable via sight or touch but is only visible under the microscope."
At the core of this process is self-assembly of halloysite clay nanotubes, a natural biocompatible clay material with 50-60 nm external and 10-15 nm inner diameters and length within 0.5-1.5 µm. The team prepared clay nanotubes with an enlarged cavity, giving them a loading capacity of 35 wt.%. Under suitable conditions, dye-loaded clay nanotubes arrange themselves in a set pattern on the hair surface during hair drying via physical adsorption. This novel technique allows the encapsulation and use of water-insoluble dyes, which previously have not been suitable for hair care.
"The same surface engineering approach is applicable to textile microfiber modifications because natural textiles like like wool, silk, cellulose, but also biomimetic synthetic textiles, have similar chemical composition," says Panchal. "This makes it possible to modify textile fibers with regard to coloring, flame retardancy and many other attributes. Consider that we can modify our tubes to deliver a wide range of molecules including enzymes, antibiotics, polymers and perfumes. Water-insoluble compounds can also be encapsulated into the tubes and then be used as safe aqueous clay colloids."
The researchers are looking for collaboration opportunities with companies to turn their proprietary technique into commercial hair care formulations.
The researchers are looking for collaboration opportunities with companies to turn their proprietary technique into commercial hair care formulations.
https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=50979.php
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2018/NR/C8NR05949G#!divAbstract