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Environmentally Friendly Vegetable Oil Microemulsions Using Extended Surfactants and Linkers

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Journal of Surfactants and Detergents

Abstract

Microemulsion formation of triglyceride oils at ambient conditions (temperature and pressure) and without the addition of co-oil and/or alcohols is challenging at best. Undesirable phases, such as macroemulsions, liquid crystals and sponge phases, are often encountered when formulating triglyceride microemulsions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of extended surfactants, lipophilic linkers, and hydrophilic linkers in enhancing triglyceride solubilization and interfacial tension reduction. We have studied two classes of extended surfactants, linear alkyl polypropoxylated sulfate (LAPS) surfactants and linear alkyl polypropoxylated ethoxylated sulfate (LAPES) surfactants. Linkers evaluated were oleyl alcohol (lipophilic linker), sodium mono and dimethyl naphthalene sulfonate (SMDNS), and polyglucoside (hydrophilic linkers). Oils studied include olive, peanut, soybean, canola and sunflower oils. The effect of electrolyte concentration on microemulsion phase behavior was studied. The microemulsion “fish” diagram was obtained by plotting the total surfactant and linker concentrations versus the electrolyte concentration. We were able to form Winsor Type I, II, III and IV microemulsions at ambient conditions and without co-oil or short and medium chain length alcohol addition. Winsor Type III and IV triglyceride microemulsions are particularly useful in numerous applications such as cosmetics, vegetable oil extraction and soil remediation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank George Smith, Hunstman Petrochemical Corp. (Houston, TX, USA) for providing us with the extended surfactant samples, and Cognis Care Chemicals for providing us with Glucopon N425. Funding for this work was provided through the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s “Science to Achieve Results” (STAR) program, through grant number Rd-83090301-0. Although the research described in this article was funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, it has not been subjected to the Agency’s required peer and policy review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred. Partial support was provided by industrial sponsors of the Institute for Applied Surfactant Research at the University of Oklahoma: Akzo Nobel, Clorox, Conoco/Phillips, Church and Dwight, Ecolab, Halliburton, Dow Chemicals, Huntsman, Oxiteno, Procter & Gamble, Sasol North America, Shell Chemical, Unilever, and from Dr. Sabatini’s Sun Oil Company-endowed chair and Dr. Harwell’s Conoco/Dupont-endowed professorship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical, Biological Engineering and Materials Science Department, Sarkeys Energy Center, University of Oklahoma, 100 East Boyd, Room T-334, Norman, OK, USA

    Linh D. Do, Anuradee Withayyapayanon, Jeffrey H. Harwell & David A. Sabatini

  2. Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Department, Carson Engineering Center, University of Oklahoma, 202 West Boyd, Room 334, Norman, OK, USA

    David A. Sabatini

  3. Institute for Applied Surfactant Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Jeffrey H. Harwell & David A. Sabatini

Authors
  1. Linh D. Do
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  2. Anuradee Withayyapayanon
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  3. Jeffrey H. Harwell
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  4. David A. Sabatini
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Correspondence to David A. Sabatini.

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Do, L.D., Withayyapayanon, A., Harwell, J.H. et al. Environmentally Friendly Vegetable Oil Microemulsions Using Extended Surfactants and Linkers. J Surfact Deterg 12, 91–99 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-008-1096-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-008-1096-0

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