Abstract

Study of Semiconductor Photocatalyzed Oxidation of Glycolic Acid used in Cosmetic Industries

Author(s): P. R. Meena and R. K. Khandelwal

The application of TiO2 photocatalyst has mainly been focused on the decomposing toxic and hazardous organic pollutants in contaminated air and water, which is of great importance for the environmental protection. Glycolic acid is due to its excellent capability to penetrate skin, it is being used in a variety of skin care products including moisturizers, cleansers, eye cream, sunscreen and foundations etc.; simultaneously the titanium oxide, zinc oxides etc. are used as the base for these materials. Hence, it is essential to understand that there may be photo-oxidation of glycolic acid, which may cause other side effects on skin like irritation including redness, burning, itching, pain, scarring etc., by sensitized photooxidation of these skin care products, due to presence of these semiconductors. It is therefore, planed to investigate photo-oxidation of glycolic acid by semiconductors. The produced photo-product has been isolated as its derivatives and then analyzed them by appropriate spectral or other suitable methods. Hence, this part of reported work may help to arouse the interdisciplinary interest about the side effects of photo-products, where these are being used.