Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) is a white powder with high opacity, excellent whiteness, excellent covering power and resistance to colour change. These properties make it an excellent pigment for a broad range of applications – paints, plastic goods, inks and paper. In cosmetic and skin care products, TiO2 is used both as a pigment and thickener, because of its high refractive index and resistance to discolouration under ultraviolet light. It is used as a whitening agent in virtually all industries including in the manufacture of soap noodles (Fairhurst and Mitchnik, 1997). For soap noodles, whiteness is often associated with quality – the whiter the product, the better it is, whether it is indeed so technically or not. Some manufacturers, therefore, add TiO2 to their products merely to ‘improve’ them.

Main Research: Dr Mohtar Yusuf