Efficient emulsifying properties of monoglycerides synthesized via simple and green route

Abstract

Waste cooking oil is produced in enormous quantities every year, and may have negative effect on people’s health and environment in case of improper treatment. However, it is also a potential feedstock for production of bio-based materials. In this work, a low-temperature glycerolysis process had been established to convert waste cooking oil to monoglycerides which was found to be of excellent surface activity with surface tension of 29 mN/m at cmc of 3.5 $\times$ 10⁻⁴mol/L. Meanwhile, monoglycerides could form stable O/W emulsion even under saturated brine conditions, implying its great potential in high salinity environment. Compared to the traditional method for monoglyceride production under high temperature and atmosphere of nitrogen, our method is easy-handling and low energy-consuming.

Graphical Abstract

Abbreviations: MG: Monoglyceride; O/W emulsion: Oil in Water emulsion; GT: Glycerolysis product of Triglyceride; GC-MS: Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry; CTAB: Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide; SDS: Sodium Dodecyl Sulfonate.

Keywords:

• Waste cooking oil
• monoglycerides
• surface properties
• emulsifying properties

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFB0308900), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51574125).