What is the Difference Between Solubilizer and Emulsifier

The key difference between solubilizer and emulsifier is that solubilizers are completely water-soluble, whereas emulsifiers are not water-soluble.

Solubilizers and emulsifiers are important types of solutions that have different chemical and physical properties as well as applications. They are also two major types of product phases in industries such as cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Solubilizer
3. What is a Emulsifier
4. Solubilizer vs Emulsifier in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Solubilizer vs Emulsifier

What is a Solubilizer?

Solubilizers are chemical substances such as solvents that can cause the solubility of a particular substance. This means solubilizers can help make otherwise insoluble liquids soluble in water. This term is often used with cosmetics. For example, if we want to produce a body spray with essential oils, we can simply add the essential oils to the spray and then vigorously shake the spray bottle well before using. Here, we need a solubilizer to keep the essential oil and water together.

Since solubilizers also have lipophilic and hydrophilic traits, they are somewhat similar to emulsifiers. However, solubilizers are completely water soluble and only a little oil-soluble. Practically, this means the amount of essential oil that is suspended in the water in our body spray sample is very little. Therefore, the entire body spray can appear clear.

More importantly, we should add a solubilizer when adding a little amount of oil to a water-based product. E.g., scenting a toner, spray, a gel, etc. Moreover, the ideal ratio of product to emulsifier is determined by the specific solubilizer and the essential oil we are using.

What is an Emulsifier?

An emulsifier is a chemical agent that allows us to stabilize an emulsion. That means it prevents the separation of liquids that usually do not mix with each other. It does so by increasing the kinetic stability of the mixture. One good example of an emulsifier is surfactants. There are two types of emulsifiers as lipophilic emulsifiers and hydrophilic emulsifiers.

Lipophilic emulsifiers are emulsifying agents that work with oil-based emulsions. These chemical reagents are important in removing a penetrant when a defect due to over-washing of the emulsion is a concern. Here, lipophilic emulsifiers can make the excess penetrant more removable with washing using water. Usually, lipophilic emulsifiers are oil-based materials, and these reagents are produced as ready-to-use agents by the manufacturer.

Hydrophilic emulsifiers are emulsifying agents that work with water-based emulsions. Similar to lipophilic emulsifiers, these chemical reagents also are important in removing a penetrant from a defect when over-washing of the emulsion is a concern. Here, lipophilic emulsifiers can make the excess penetrant more removable with washing using water. Usually, hydrophilic emulsifiers are water-based materials and are produced as a concentrate by the manufacturer. Therefore, we need to dilute the concentration of the hydrophilic emulsifier using water to a preferable concentration before using it.

What is the Difference Between Solubilizer and Emulsifier?

Solubilizers are chemical substances such as solvents that can cause the solubility of a particular substance, while emulsifiers are chemical agents that help to stabilize an emulsion. The key difference between solubilizer and emulsifier is that solubilizers are completely water-soluble, whereas emulsifiers are not water-soluble.

The following table summarizes the difference between solubilizer and emulsifier.

Summary – Solubilizer vs Emulsifier

Solubilizers and emulsifiers are two major types of product phases in industries such as the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. However, the key difference between solubilizer and emulsifier is their water solubility. Solubilizers are completely water-soluble, but emulsifiers are not water-soluble.