Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Polymers as Efficient Emulsion Stabilizers: The Effect of Molecular Weight and Overlap Concentration

Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is a non-digestible water-soluble polysaccharide used in various food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications. In the current study, the aqueous solutions of six HPC grades, with molecular mass ranging from 40 to 870 kDa, were characterized with respect to their precipitation temperatures, interfacial tensions (IFTs), rheological properties and emulsifying and stabilization ability in palm (PO) and sunflower (SFO) oil emulsions. The main conclusions from the obtained results are as follows: (1) Emulsion drop size follows a master curve as a function of HPC concentration for all studied polymers, indicating that polymer molecular mass and solution viscosity have a secondary effect, while the primary effect is the fraction of surface-active molecules, estimated to be around 1-2% for all polymers. (2) Stable emulsions were obtained only with HPC polymers with <i>M_w</i> ≥ 400 kDa at concentrations approximately 3.5 times higher than the critical overlap concentration, <i>c</i>*. At PO concentrations beyond 40 wt. % or when the temperature was 25 °C, these emulsions appeared as highly viscous liquids or non-flowing gels. (3) HPC polymers with <i>M_w</i> < 90 kDa were unable to form stable emulsions, as the surface-active molecules cannot provide steric stabilization even at <i>c</i> ≳ 4-5 <i>c</i>*, resulting in drop creaming and coalescence during storage.