Rheological properties and physical stability of ecological emulsions stabilized by a surfactant derived from cocoa oil and high pressure homogenization

Abstract

The goal of this work was to investigate the influence of the emulsification method on the rheological properties, droplet size distribution and physical stability of O/W green emulsions formulated with an eco-friendly surfactant derived from cocoa oil. The methodology used can be applied to other emulsions. Polyoxyethylene glycerol esters are non-ionic surfactants obtained from a renewable source which fulfill the environmental and toxicological requirements to be used as eco-friendly emulsifying agents. In the same way, N,N-Dimethyloctanamide and α-Pinene (solvents used as oil phase) could be considered green solvents. Emulsions with submicron mean diameters and slight shear thinning behavior were obtained regardless of the homogenizer, pressure or number of passes used. All emulsions exhibited destabilization by creaming and a further coalescence process which was applied to the coarse emulsion prepared with a rotor-stator homogenizer. The emulsion obtained with high pressure at 15000 psi and 1-pass was the most stable.