Emulsion Technology Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Emulsion Technology - Lab Report Example   An emulsion is a setup of two immiscible liquid phases with one of them dispersed throughout the other in form of tiny and fine droplets. The phase consisting of tiny droplets is defined as the internal or dispersed phase whereas the suspension phase is classified as the external or continuous phase. Water and oil are the two major constituents of pharmaceutical emulsions. An aqueous continuous phase will render the emulsion as oil-in-water (o/w) whereas an oily continuous phase will make a water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion. The stability of an emulsion is dependent on the characteristics of the interfacial film. Addition of an emulsifying agent lowers the interfacial tension and increases the stability of the emulsion. A wide variety of these substances are available: e.g. egg yolk, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 20, 20 etc. In the past emulsions have been used to impart paraffin oil and other oily substances in a more palatable form (Aulton 1988, p. 93). Nowadays emulsions are very co mmon in foods, cosmetics, personal hygiene and especially pharmaceuticals. Creams, ointments, liniments, pastes, and films are some examples of pharmaceutical emulsions. They are classified according to the oil and water content in each of the preparation and also on their routes of administration (Troy, Remington & Beringer 2006, p. 886-887). To achieve the production of a stabilized emulsion this experimented was conducted in order to formulate a scientific method of emulsion design. MATERIALS & METHOD A condensed film consisting of an oil-soluble component (OSC) and a water-soluble component (WSC) in a ratio of 9:1 for the required o/w emulsion is needed at the interface between oil and water in order to achieve the best result. MATERIALS Liquid Paraffin, Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene 20 sorbitan mono-oleate, Span 80 (sorbitan mono-oleate) Span 80 is selected as the OSC while Tween 80 is selected as the WSC at total blend concentration of 2% w/v. Both compartments are then administer ed into screw via a burette and then labeled. The vials are agitated by inversion and then emulsified by drawing into and expelling from a syringe three times. Six different formulations were prepared with varying ratios of Span 80 and Tween 80. The HLB of each formulation was calculated from the equation given below, so as to determine the required HLB of the oil. HLB [formula] = f [OSC] . HLB [OSC] + (1-f) [WSC] .