Designing
of multifunctional soft and smart materials from natural
sources is a useful strategy for producing safer chemicals having
potential applications in biomedical research and pharmaceutical industries.
Herein, eight glycolipids with variation in unsaturation of hydrophobic
tail and polar headgroup size were designed. The effect of unsaturation
in the tail group and headgroup size on gelation ability, and mechanical
and thermal stability of glycolipid hydro/organogels was studied to
understand structure and property relationship. Glycolipids are functional
amphiphilic molecules having potential applications in the field of
drug delivery and metal removal. The encapsulation capacity and kinetic
release behavior of hydrophobic/hydrophilic bioactives like curcumin/riboflavin
from the hydrophobic/hydrophilic pockets of glycolipids hydro/organogels
was examined. A significant observation was that the glucamine moiety
of the glycolipid headgroup plays a vital role in removal of Cr and
Cu from oil/water biphasic systems. Typical functions of the glycolipid
hydrogels are metal chelation and enzyme-triggered release behavior,
enabled them as promising material for Cr, Cu removal from edible
oils and controlled release of water soluble/insoluble bioactives.