ARS | Publication request: PREPARATION OF POLYMER SURFACTANT BY RING-OPENING POLYMERIZATION OF EPOXIDIZED SOYBEAN OIL

Submitted to: World Oleochemical Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 17, 2002
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The importance of natural products for industrial applications becomes very clear with increasing social emphasis on the issues of environment, waste disposal and depleting non-renewable resources. Development of economically feasible new industrial products from vegetable oils is highly desirable. Soybean oil is a mainly mixture of triacylglycerides which are esters of glycerol with various saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The double bonds in unsaturated fatty acids may be converted into more reactive oxirane moiety by reaction with peracids or peroxides. In our study, we prepared surfactant by ring- opening polymerization of epoxidized soybean oil. This is an ethylene oxide-based surfactant, which has an excellent hydrophillic properties. The characterization of resulting polymer, molecular weight distribution, effects of catalyst concentration, polymerization temperature on surface tension were investigated and will be reported.