BIPHASIC LIQUIDS

Emulsion

• An emulsion is liquid preparation containing two immiscible liquids, one of

which is dispersed as globules (dispersed phase = internal phase) in the
other liquid (continuous phase = external phase).
• Droplets ranging in diameter (0.1-100 um).
• Emulsion is thermo dynamically unstable and is stabilized by presence of
emulsifying agent (emulgent or emulsifier).

• Emulsion protect the drug which are susceptible to hydrolysis and

oxidation.

• Provide prolonged action of medication.

Example: In the form of an o/w emulsion, ephedrine has more prolonged
effect when applied to nasalmucosa ,than when used in an oily solution
 Types of Emulsion

• Primary emulsion containing one internal phase,for

example,
1.Oil-in-water emulsion (o/w)
2.Water-in-oilemulsion (w/o).
• Secondary emulsion also called multiple-emulsion
contains two internal phases, for instance,
1.O/w/o
2.w/o/w.
• It can be used to delay release or to increase the stability
of the active compounds
 Test for Emulsion

• Dilution test:
Addition of water to a w/o emulsion and oil
to o/w emulsion would crack the emulsion and
lead to separation of the phases
 Conductivity test
• When current is passed to an emulsion which
is connected to a voltage bulb, the bulbs glows
if it is o/w emulsion since water is good
conductor of electricity and when the bulb
does not glow it is w/o emulsion because oil is
non-conductor of electricity
 Dye test
• Water-soluble dye will dissolve in the aqueous
phase whereas oil-soluble dye will dissolve in
the oil phase . For example: Amaranth (o/w
Emulsion), Scarle V Sudan (w/o Emulsion).
 Fluorescent test
• Oils give fluorescence under UV light,while
water does not. Therefore, O/W emulsion
shows spotty pattern while W/0 emulsion
fluorescence.
 Filter paper test
• O/w emulsion should spread out rapidly when
dropped on to filter paper,in contrast w/o will
migrate slowly.
 Pharmaceutical applications of emulsion

• Mask the bitter taste of the drugs.

• O/w emulsion is convenient means of orally
administration of water -insoluble liquids.
• O/w emulsion facilitates the absorption of water-
insoluble compounds comparing to their oily solution
preparations (e.g. vitamins).
• Oil-soluble drugs can be given pareneterally in form of
oil-in water emulsion.
• Emulsion can be used for external application in
cosmetic and therapeutic uses
 Preparation of Emulsions

• Preparation of emulsions depends on the scale at which it is produced.

• On small scale mortar and pestle can be used but its efficiency is
limited. To overcome this drawback small electric mixers can be used
although care must be exercised to avoid excessive entrapment of air.
• For large scale production mechanical stirrers are used to provide
controlled agitation and shearing stress to produce stable emulsions.
• The methods commonly used to prepare emulsions can be divided
into two categories:
1.Trituration Method
2. Bottle Method
 Trituration Method

• This method consists of

1.Dry gum method
2.Wet gum method
Dry Gum Method
In this method, the oil is first triturated with gum with a
little amount of water to form the primary emulsion. The
trituration is continued till a characteristic 'clicking' sound
is heard and a thick white cream is formed. Once the
primary emulsion is formed, the remaining quantity of
water is slowly added to form the final emulsion
 Wet gum method

• As the name implies,in this method first gum

and water are triturated together to form a
mucilage. The required quantity of oil is then
added gradually in small proportions with
thorough trituration to form the primary
emulsion.
• Once the primary emulsion has been formed
remaining quantity of water is added to make
the final emulsion
 Bottle Method

• Preparing emulsions containing volatile and other non­ viscous

oils. Both dry gum and wet gum methods can be employed for
the preparation.
• As volatile oils have a low viscosity as compared to fixed oils,they
require comparatively large quantity of gum for emulsification.
• In this method,oil or water is first shaken thoroughly and
vigorously with the calculated amount of gum. Once this has
emulsified completely,the second liquid (either oil or water) is
then added all at once and the bottle is again shaken vigorously
to form the primary emulsion. More of water is added in small
portions with constant agitation after each addition to produce
the final volume
Formulae for Primary Emulsion
 Types of Surfactants
• Anionic
• Cationic
• Non-ionic
• Ampholytic
 Anionic
• Monovalent, polyvalent and inorganic soaps sulphates and
sulphanotes, alkali soaps includes sodium, potassium and
ammonium salts are lauric, myristric, palmitic, stearic and oleic
acid are water soluble which forms o/w emulsion.
• Metallic soaps like calcium or magnesium salts are fatty acid
are water insoluble and tend to form w/o emulsion.
• Organic soaps forms o/w emulsion.
• Sulphated alcohols such as sodium laurylsulphate form o/w
emulsion.
• Sodium dioctyl sulphosuccinate is frequently used sulphonates
di-(2-ethyl hexyl) sodium sulphosuccinate called Aerosol
 Cationic emulgent
• They are commonly used in lotion and cream
due to their remarkable bactericidal property.
Forexample:
domiphenbromide,
cetylpyridiumbromide,
benzalkoniumchloride,
cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide
 Non-ionic emulgents
• Glyceryl ester, fatty acid esters of sorbitol, and
their polyoxyethylene derivative, polyoxyethene
glycol esters and Sorbitan fatty acid esters
• e.g. Sorbitan mono palmitate (span-40) are
non-ionic and oil soluble promoting w/o
emulsion.
• Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monopalmate(tween
40) are hydrophlic water soluble derivative
promotes o/w emulsion
 Amphoteric

• N-dodecyl, N, N- dimethyl betaine, lecithin

• PEG esters such as polyoxy ethylene glycol 400
monostearate are widely used to prepare
emulsified lotion and creams
 Natural emulgents
• Most commonly used acacia. Others are Gelatin
which amphoteric in nature,Lecithin
(phospholipid) and Cholesterol.
• Acacia and gelatin: Form interfacial monolayer.
• Lecithin and cholesterol: Form interfacial mono
molecular layer.
• Lecithin is a phospholipids and form o/w
emulsion, Darken on storage.
• Cholesterol form w/o emulsion
 Finely dispersed solids
• Colloidal clays such as bentonite, veegum, oxide, silica gel,
aluminium hydroxide, Magnesium oxide.
• Magnesium hydroxides are most commonly used finely dispersed
solids which act by forming particular particulate film around
dispersed globules.
• Bentonite produce both o/w and w/o type of emulsion.
• Veegum is also as an emulgent for o/w emulsion but it is chiefly
used as an stabilizer in cosmetic creams and lotion.
• Auxilairy emulgents are incapable of forming stable emulsion.
Have thickening property. Thus, consistency of an o/w emulsion
prepared by using acacia. it can be increased by tragacanth or
agar which act as auxiliary emulsion.
 Antioxidants
• 0.001-0.1%
• List of antioxidants
Gallic acid
Propyl Gallate
Ascorbic acid
Sulphites
Alpha -Tocopherol
Butylated hydroxyltoluene
Butylated hydroxylanisole
Ascorbyl palmitate
 Evaluation of emulsion
• Stability testing of emulsions involves determining stability at long
term storage conditions, accelerated storage conditions, freezing and
thawing conditions. Stress conditions are applied in order to speed up
the stability testing.
1. The stress conditions used for speeding up instability of emulsions
include: Centrifugal force, Agitational force, Aging and temperature.
2. Physical parameters are evaluated to assess the effect of any of
the above stress conditions:
(a)Phase separation
(b) Viscosity
(c) Electrophoretic properties
(d) Particle size and particle count
 Determination of particle size and particle
count
• Determination of changes in the average
particle size or the size distribution of droplets
is an important parameter used for the
evaluation of emulsions.It is performed by
optical microscopy, sedimentation by using
Andreasen apparatus and Coulter counter
apparatus.
 Determination of viscosity
• Determination of viscosity is done to assess
the changes that might take place during
aging. Emulsions exhibit non-newtonian type
of flow characteristics. The viscometers which
should be used include cone and plate
viscometers.
Determination of phase separation
• This is another parameter used for assessing
the stability of the formulation.
• Phase separation may be observed visually or
by measuring the volume of the separated
phases.
• Determination of electrophoretic properties:
Determination of electrophoretic properties
like zeta potential is usefulfor assessing
flocculation since electrical charges on
particles influence the rate of flocculation