Nonionic Glycolipids for Chromium Flotation- and Emulsion (W/O and O/W)-Based Bioactive Release

Abstract

Biosourced surfactants are endeavored as a green alternative to biosurfactants and petrochemical surfactants having industrial utilization. Nine glycolipids with headgroup and chain length variation were derived from renewable resources like vegetable oils, carbohydrates, and amino acids. The concentration-dependent interfacial activity, foamability, wetting power, emulsification power, and solubilization capacities of glycolipids were investigated to provide a structure–activity relationship. Later, the metal flotation and emulsification experiments were performed. In general, for metal flotation, the surfactant should contain a hydrophobic tail, hydrophilic head, and chelating function. In the present investigation, it was observed that the headgroup of a glycolipid can serve as a hydrophilic head as well as perform a chelating function. Moreover, heat energy generated from the sunlight was utilized for metal flotation. Additionally, these glycolipids are capable to form stable sunflower oil–water (W/O and O/W) emulsions. The mechanical and thermal stabilities and hydrophobic chain length dependency of the prepared emulsions at different water volume fractions are explored. Furthermore, encapsulation and release of water-soluble (riboflavin and l-ascorbic acid) and oil-soluble (curcumin and α-tocopherol) bioactives in glycolipid emulsions were monitored. Thus, glycolipids under investigation had shown the possibility for pretreatment of chromium-containing wastewaters and bioactive-loaded emulsions toward the controlled release.

Unsaturation and Polar Head Effect on Gelation, Bioactive Release, and Cr/Cu Removal Ability of Glycolipids

“…Hydrogels are interesting compounds to remove heavy metal ions/dyes on the way to purification of water. ,− Chromium and copper are heavy metal ions and widely used for various industrials applications. Removal of chromium from water by glycolipids was shown in our previous work, and sugar-based hydrogels can remove copper from water by absorption phenomenon. , In the oil-refining process, there is a lot of possibility for the corrosion of oil with metallic components like chromium and copper. Hence, in the present study, we attempted to remove chromium and copper from sunflower oil by using glycolipid hydrogels.…”

“…Removal of chromium from water by glycolipids was shown in our previous work, and sugar-based hydrogels can remove copper from water by absorption phenomenon. 40,42 In the oil-refining process, there is a lot of possibility for the corrosion of oil with metallic components like chromium and copper. Hence, in the present study, we attempted to remove chromium and copper from sunflower oil by using glycolipid hydrogels.…”

“…Organo/hydrogels are having well-ordered structure which can be used to execute many important functions. Previously, we prepared glycolipids with various hydrophobic tails and headgroup geometry from the natural sources and their surface behavior, self-assembly pattern, and surfactant applications were studied. ,, Encouragingly, glycolipids have shown formation of stable (W/O and O/W) emulsions and gel emulsions with sunflower oil and water. The formed gel emulsions exhibited controlled enzymatic release of bioactives from the bioactive-loaded formulation.…”

The Flotation Process Can Go Green

“…Evaluation of the impacts of reagents on safety, health, and the environment (SHE) is crucial for industries, regulatory agencies, and governments; so, an evaluation was developed to provide a holistic assessment of reagents [53]. Glycolipids derived from renewable resources such as carbohydrates, amino acids, and vegetable oils, i.e., biosourced surfactants, were said to be the environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based products [54]. Earlier findings implied that some biosurfactants, such as tea saponin, can replace chemosynthetic surfactants in controlling bubble behavior in flotation operation [55].…”

Supramolecular Glycolipid-Based Hydro-/Organogels with Enzymatic Bioactive Release Ability by Tuning the Chain Length and Headgroup Size

“…In the context of our previous work, we were interested in scrutinizing the self-assembled gelation behavior of glycolipids with an increase in chain length and headgroup size. Synthesis, surface, self-assembly properties, and applications of glycolipid amphiphiles employed in this work have been reported earlier. − In this work, formulation of multifunctional hydro-/organogels with biomedical applications from biobased LMWG glycolipids was targeted. This simple method of varying the chain length and headgroup size helped us study their effect over the gelation phenomenon.…”