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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Bio-oils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #431466
Research Project: Development of New Products and Markets from Novel and Commodity Oilseed Crops to Support U.S. Agriculture

Location: Bio-oils Research

Title: Estolides synthesized from hempseed oil and their preliminary physical properties as potential biobased lubricants

Author
item Lin, Randy
item Winfield, Demichael
item ISBELL, PAUL - Orise Fellow
item Evangelista, Roque
item RAYMOND, BENJAMIN - Victory Hemp Foods, Pbc
item Cermak, Steven

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/17/2026
Publication Date: 5/3/2026
Citation: Lin, R.L., Winfield, D.D., Isbell, P.A., Evangelista, R.L., Raymond, B., Cermak, S.C. 2026. Estolides synthesized from hempseed oil and their preliminary physical properties as potential biobased lubricants [abstract]. 2026 American Oil Chemists' Society Annual Meeting and Expo, New Orleans, LA, May 3-6, 2026.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: There is a need to find sources of green, renewable biobased lubricants. One widely available source of such potential material is seed oils. However, previous reports have determined that crop oils, while having acceptable lubrication properties, have poor thermal and oxidative stability, thus deeming them unfavorable as biobased lubricants. Our unit has prior experience in transforming these seed oils into an oligomer via polyaddition onto the unsaturated sites of fatty acids; the removal of the reactive olefin has been shown to increase oxidative stability and low temperature tolerance, thus addressing the concerns associated with seed oils. Hempseed oil is unique in that it is rich with polyunsaturated fatty acids. Generally, previous reports of estolides have been from monounsaturated fatty acids, thus hempseed oil presents a unique opportunity for developing novel estolides because, unlike most other commodity crops, it contains specific amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and stearidonic acid (SDA). Here, we report the synthesis and preliminary results of estolides derived from hempseed oil as well as some preliminary physical properties.