Abstract:Zinc oxide, which has photocatalytic activity, is used as a white pigment for cosmetics, resulting in a certain amount of sebum on the skin to be decomposed by the ultraviolet radiation in the sunlight. In this work, zinc phosphates as novel white pigments for use in cosmetics were prepared from zinc nitrate and sodium dihydrogen phosphate, and then ball-milled under various conditions. The chemical composition, powder properties, photocatalytic activity, color phase, moisture retention, and smoothness of the zinc phosphates were studied. The zinc phosphate particle size was decreased by mechanical treatment. In particular, the sample treated with sodium lactate solution had much smaller particles. The milled zinc phosphates exhibited less photocatalytic activity than zinc oxide, and thus should not decompose sebum on the skin. The milled zinc phosphates showed sufficiently high reflectance within the range of visible light to act as novel white pigments. The sample treated with sodium lactate solution had higher water retention than the sample treated with water. Further, the slip resistance and roughness of the powder particles decreased as a result of treatment with sodium lactate solution.