/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Tea tree oil should mix freely with the unheated product. Nonpolar materials tend to mix well. That said, you shouldn't need to heat the ointment all that much to render it a liquid anyway. Microwaves don't have enough energy to cause chemical changes. My memory isn't 100% on what the actual chemical constituents of triple antibiotic are, but I don't think any of them have tertiary or quaternary structure that would be denatured by excessive heating.

Short answer: no problem, proceed.

>>548380
>does that destroy the antibiotic properties of it?

Microwaves can break the bonds in the antibiotic molecules and render them inert.

Better way to do it is to heat the jelly to about 120f(max rated storage temp for these things IIRC) and mix in the oil.

>>548381
This also works. You will need to mix more to homogenize the jelly

One point to consider: don't thin out the ointment too much. Believe it or not, the petroleum jelly itself is an important part of the activity of antibacterial ointment because its sticky gooeyness immobilizes the bacteria in a matrix of poison. Too thin, and the little bastards might be able to squirm out/through it.

>>548382
No. Microwaves do not do this. You need ionizing radiation to break chemical bonds. That or you need to heat to extreme temperatures in which case the heat is doing the chemistry, not the electromagnetic waves.

>>548386
That is incorrect. EM radiation with much less energy can break bonds, particularly in clunky unstable organic molecules. Visible light and near infrared are involved in lots of photochemical reactions. Besides, directly breaking bonds isn't the only way to degrade a drug. EM radiation can cause isomerization, which affects the potency of many drugs. Lower-energy EM radiation (like microwaves) can also heat a compound which can break bonds or initiate other reactions with no need to invoke tertiary or quaternary structures. Your division between photochemistry and thermochemistry is totally irrelevant. The question is whether microwaving a drug will reduce its potency, the exact mechanism doesn't matter. Why do you think so many drugs need to be stored in dark vials and temperature-controlled environments?

In short, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. It is absolutely possible to destroy some drugs by microwaving them, even if they have no tertiary or quaternary structure.

For OP, why are you trying to add tea tree oil to this? If the infection is not responding to the antibiotic ointment you should see a doctor and get something stronger.

>>548394
Eat shit. I get pissed off when people mistake microwave radiation for ionizing radiation. Do you know the exact chemical composition of the mixture in question, or are you theorizing (needlessly) that these are extremely delicate chemical constituents which can be damaged through some specific sensitivity to electromagnetic radiation (an extremely rare chemical property)?

Most drugs need to be stored in dark vials and temperature controlled environments because of UV light, which IS ionizing radiation. You said microwave radiation can 'break bonds'. To break a covalent bond in a chemical with radiation the radiation must IONIZE IT (remove an electron) or one of the other constituents of the mixture.

Any chemical which is destroyed or denatured through exposure to microwave radiation is an effect of either a: the material being heated or b: sensitive through specific chemical properties to microwave radiation (but still is not being ionized directly by the radiation).

In short, go back to school.

>>548394
>If the infection is not responding to the antibiotic ointment you should see a doctor and get something stronger.
Not relevant. I just need an authoritative answer to my original question.

>>548380

Yes, the antibiotics are complex organic compounds and heat will definitely affect it. Read the label, even high room temperatures will degrade it. There's no reason why you would need to heat a cream to add oil to it, just mix it cold.

>>548403
Short answer without reading and understanding angry scientist banter is don't heat it very much. It should mix anyway, whether you heat it or not.

After getting annoyed and looking at the structure and stability of the active ingredients, I'd suggest not heating them at all above body temperature, by any means. Two of them are quite complex and temperature sensitive.

>>548401
>Eat shit. I get pissed off when people mistake microwave radiation for ionizing radiation

EM/Light fag/expert here. Nowhere is ionizing radiation mentioned, retard. In fact, their grasp of the subject matter appears to be much firmer than yours. Telling someone to go back to school when it's readily apparent that you cannot read is rather hypocritical.

Oh, to boot, only idiots mix medications with other chemicals.

>reading treato
>not seeing a professional doctor
>trying to play biochemist without understanding that tea tree oil is a hard polar solvent and can destroy anti-biotic preparations

You know what pisses me off? Ill-educated people like yourself.

>>548435
OP here,

..yeah, and random faggots on 4chan, let alone the internets, just have SO MUCH credibility, especially when they get in hissy-fits with other faggots on 4chan.

>Oh, to boot, only idiots mix medications with other chemicals.

Yeah, sure thing. My skin is dissolving into green goo, what ever shall I do!? SAVE ME, ANON, SAVE ME! LOL

Take the stick out of your ass, dude.

>>548435
Post links to neutral, University-conducted, peer-reviewed studies that ANYTHING you're saying is true, and MAYBE we'll believe you. Otherwise you're just some loudmouthed suburbanite cunt of a kid on 4chan who has a computer and Google.

>>548435
>calling someone obviously literate and educated retarded.

You're clearly upset. As soon as you say radiation 'breaks chemical bonds' you are discussing ionizing radiation. I'm sure you know this, if you have real qualifications.

You shouldn't be arguing that it's dumb to mix tea tree oil with medication. It's dumb to put it on your body anyway. It kills bacteria because it's toxic (to both you and the bacteria). OP clearly isn't looking for a medical opinion.

As an answer to his initial question:
>"If I heat it in a microwave to the point where it's liquid enough to mix something else in with it, does that destroy the antibiotic properties of it?"
The answer: "you don't need to heat it" is sufficient.

I'm a biologist, not a biochemist, or a physicist. However, I know you can't tell me factually, that microwave radiation directly breaks chemical bonds. It just doesn't. In fact, microwaves are used in chemical synthesis as heating devices where direct heating would potentially interfere or contaminate the reaction vessel (such as in pharmaceutical prep).

I was incorrect in my initial assertion that the ointment wasn't thermally sensitive (not a microbiologist). But I did do the research later and suggested no heating was advisable.

>>548445
>>548439
>>548438

So much samefagging it's not even funny. Timeout time for the shitposter.

>>548445
>However, I know you can't tell me factually, that microwave radiation directly breaks chemical bonds

You're a shit one. Hi, horticultural research director here.

>not knowing about enantiomers
>doesn't know about microwave-made diamonds
>thinks he knows anything

>>548453
Oh for fucks sake. Now you've gone full retard.

Microwave diamonds use microwaves to HEAT the carbon into plasma vapor which then cools to form diamonds of its own accord because of the heat and pressure, not because microwaves somehow performed magic on the carbon atoms.

Enantiomers and other conformational changes have nothing to do with bonds breaking, champ.

...and now we pause for the angry troll to google.

>>548456

Uh, no, Microwave based chemical vapor deposition works not by heat.

Semiconductor tech here, as well. I make that shit. You're wrong. Heat is the last thing we want because it causes deformations.

>>548456

none of what you're saying has to do with the fact you got called out for putting words in someone's mouth. Ionizing radiation was never mentioned.

To boot:

http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/education/sci-enviro-ed/years5-10/pdfs/chem-react.pdf

"These are chemical reac
tions. Absorbed energy from UV light,
microwaves, X-rays and gamma rays induces chemical reactions on or inside the
body,"

INDUCES CHEMICAL REACTIONS. WHICH INCLUDES FORMATION OR BREAKING OF CHEMICAL BONDS.

Go back to school, child.

>>548460
Ugh.
Microwave vapor deposition works because it heats *only* the chemical you intend to vaporize. That's what microwaves do to chemicals, particularly very carefully modulated microwaves used in industrial chemical processing. This is getting more and more embarrassing.

How the fuck else would a microwave vaporize something, if you're a goddamn physicist?

>>548463
>Microwave vapor deposition works because it heats *only* the chemical you intend to vaporize.

Wrong. There is the creation of electrical fields which will utterly destroy a forming crystal lattice structure to take into account, and then some. Or are you forgetting there's two components to microwave radiation?

>>548462
Breaking bonds was mentioned. Microwaves do not break bonds. If you read the (introductory) literature you supplied, you might understand. Absorption of radiation in the microwave band produces heat. Heat is the cause of these chemical changes, not the radiation itself.

If you do not heat the components with the microwaves sufficiently to meet the activation energy for the reaction in question, no property of microwaves will initiate that reaction itself.

i.e. microwaves do not directly break chemical bonds.

>>548466
You're not making much sense here. Microwaves heat the material to be deposited to form the *vapor* part of the equation. It's then switched off, and the crystals form as a result of the physical conditions of the chamber.

The microwave radiation is tuned to heat only the vaporized component, so only the (very small mass) of vapor is heated and the thermal equation doesn't tip too far to overheat the sensitive semiconductor.

(once again pause for inept googling)

what the fuck is wrong with all of you. petroleum jelly has a melting point within just a few degrees of body temp (99f/37c) so you could probably liquefy it by putting it on the dash of your car. just leave it in the tube, wait for it to warm up, then squirt the tea tree oil into the tube, seal it up, and massage it around in there.

alternatively, put the whole sealed tube in some hot water. that will do the trick. everyone is over thinking this. petroleum jelly is easy as fuck to get into a liquid state. you do not need to microwave and therefore all microwave related comments are moot.

>>548381
first post was onto the correct answer.

So anyway...

How are going to mix/repackage it in a way that it'll stay clean and sterile?

>>548471
>You're not making much sense here.

I'm not making sense because you've never fucking touched a machine like that before and you simply do not understand how it works.

>>548480
>thinks I'm googling
>had to record that video fresh for your dumb ignorant ass then had to go to a fucking night-shift OSHA inspection
>you think you know shit but I've been doing this likely longer than you've been alive

http://youtu.be/RsgzAIJIMTI

Make sure to cover your ears.

Oh, and let's see you cover your ass at the same time, now. You're probably still studying 1990s nonsense. Welcome to the 2010s.

Oh, for fuck's sake..

OP here.. I'd delete this entire thread if 4chan would allow me to do so. A simple question has turned into a goddamned shitstorm. What a mess..

>>548580

>can't see the checkbox next to OP and delete button at bottom right
>wants to delete thread because someone came through and posted video proof of your ignorance

You're as bad as that one guy that said he'd run that circuit diagram and still hasn't come back to show us.

Good job guys, this is the worst thread i've ever seen on /DIY/

>>548593

Oh no, that one horticulture thread from the beginning of DIY was worse.

Just because this is 4chan and microwaves. Remember to put the ointment in a bowl of some sort before sticking it into the microwave - that foil/plastic/god only knows tube is gonna either explode, or sparkle like a firecracker if you stick it in there.