Mammals secrete fluids from the sweat glands known as perspiration which helps in thermoregulation. However, sweat can interfere with vision, comfort, grip, and results in malodor due to bacterial action. To combat the aforementioned issues, antiperspirants are widely used personal hygiene products to stop the sweat by blocking the sweat glands. Typically, aluminum salts present in the antiperspirants dissolve in the sweat and create a temporary plug to cut the flow of sweat. However, there has been a long debate going on the safety concerns of aluminum-based antiperspirants. Although there is no concrete evidence to prove the carcinogenicity of aluminum, various studies have also shown that long exposure to aluminum can lead to breast cancer in women. Hence there is a potential need to find aluminum-free alternatives for antiperspirants. Consumers are also showing an increased demand for more natural cosmetic products. The current study presents a novel aluminum-free the hygroscopic gel which can potentially serve as an antiperspirant. A synthetic sweat duct has been developed to mimic the sweating behavior of humans and to test the synthesized gels. Hygroscopic materials readily absorb and/or adsorb water from a humid environment. The hygroscopic gel can cause long-range evaporation of water from the sweat leading tocrystallization of minerals which can ultimately clog the sweat duct and prevent sweating. / Master of Science / We secrete water-like fluid known as sweat which helps us cool down our body. Sweating is also common when we are in the situation of high stress, anxiety, or excitement as a reaction from the body. However, sweating can be disgusting when it results in bad odor or when our armpits look wet. It can also affect our grip, vision, and comfort. Hence we use antiperspirants to stop the sweat and get rid of various issues caused by sweat. These antiperspirants usually have aluminum salts which dissolve in sweat and makes a gel. This gel then clogs our sweat glands and we stop sweating. However, many scientists argue that the presence of aluminum salts in the body can lead to cancer. Although many scientists have also shown that the aluminum salts are completely safe, it is not completely clear. The yellow stains we see on the shirts near the sleeves are also due to these aluminum salts. These days, consumer is also very particular about the contents of the products being used and nobody wants to put any external chemicals inside the body. Here, we present a hydrogel, which is aluminum free and can serve as an alternative to aluminum-based antiperspirants. These hydrogels have a strong affinity to water and can even evaporate nearby water. Hence these hydrogels can be used to evaporate the water from the sweat and causing the salts present in the sweat to crystallize. These naturally present salts in the body can thereby cause the clogging of the sweat duct. Once clogged, it should stop sweating and keep us dry without worrying about safety concerns of aluminum salts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/101555 |
| Date | 28 June 2019 |
| Creators | Shukla, Pranav |
| Contributors | Engineering Science and Mechanics, Boreyko, Jonathan B., Jung, Sunghwan, Cramer, Mark S. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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