Different Ratios in Sunscreen

On Wednesday, 10 different sunscreens were made for future testing.  Five had zinc oxide (ZnO) and the other five did not.  Each group of five had consistently increasing amounts of curcumin.  Increasing the amount of curcumin in the sunscreens meant also increasing the amount of alcohol in the sunscreen because the curcumin is kept in an ethanol solution as it is not water soluble.  Increasing the amount of alcohol in the sunscreen meant that the more curcumin solution that was added, the more runny the resulting sunscreen would become.  The results of the sunscreens initially did not show an exact pattern of increasing or decreasing viscosity, however once the sunscreens were left overnight, they all became more evenly viscous. 

-Alexandra Griffith
5/30/19

Standardization of Turmeric

After refluxing the turmeric and ethanol, the solution was diluted and run through the ultraviolet spectrometer.  The concentration of the solution was found to be 0.0113M curcumin.  This information was then used to calculate the amount of curcumin in the powdered turmeric by mass.

The turmeric being used in the lab was confirmed to be 5% curcumin by mass.

-Alexandra Griffith
5/23/19

First Extraction

In order to separate the curcumin from the turmeric powder, an extraction process was used where the dehydrated alcohol was the solvent and the turmeric powder was the solute.

Extraction of Curcumin Process.

-Hadeel Darweesh
05/23/19

Testing Self Made Methyl Stearate

The Testing of  Methyl Stearate includes checking the product under infrared along with recording its melting point.

The infrared results of the laboratory made Methyl Stearate must be compared with the infrared results   of stearic acid and commercial grade methyl stearate

The process was started by making three different test solution samples:

1. Solution of stearic acid and dichloromethane  
2. Solution of commercial grade methyl stearate
3. Solution of self made methyl stearate

                                                          

*Picture of researcher using the                                                          *Picture of Researcher preparing the infrared instrument.*                                                                             compounds to be tested.*

- Hadassah Haricha
05/22/19

Types of UV Radiation: Our Objective

There are three types of ultraviolet radiation.

• UVC: The germicidal region, from 200-290 nm.
• UVB: The erythmal region, from 290-320 nm, responsible for sunburns.
• UVA: The 'tanning' region, from 320-400 nm, responsible for accelerated aging of the skin. 

UVA radiation is considered the most dangerous for several reasons.  Most ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earth's surface is UVA.  Most photo sensitivity is caused by UVA.  Also, UVA radiation can pass through some glass and plastic while UVB generally cannot.  UVA is also the type of ultraviolet radiation responsible for loss of skin elasticity, which causes the aforementioned accelerated aging of the skin.

Our research will focus on blocking UVA and UVB using sunscreen that will be made from zinc oxide and curcumin.

-Alexandra Griffith

05/21/19

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