High oleic soy-based alternating copolymer for surfactant/emulsifier applications

A sustainable alternating copolymer was synthesized using chain copolymerization of acrylic monomer derived from high oleic soybean oil (the hydrophobic portion, HOSBM) and maleic anhydride (MA) (the hydrophilic portion, MA). Using surface tension measurements and fluorescence spectroscopy, surface activity of the resulted macromolecules is demonstrated to confirm HOSBM-MA micellization (CMC = 1.9 mg l ^−1 based on solubilization of pyrene probe molecules). The biorenewable carbon index (BCI) of HOSBM-MA was determined as 66.7%, confirming its predominantly sustainable nature. The micelles from the synthesized HOSBM-MA readily solubilize highly hydrophobic molecules (as exemplified by Nile Red dye). Furthermore, the obtained results demonstrate that HOSBM-MA can be considered as an alternative for various surfactant/emulsifier applications. In this study, experimental results on HOSBM-MA mixtures with widely used surfactant sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) confirm interactions between biobased macromolecules and SLS. The resulting highly surface-active mixtures were successfully applied as emulsifiers in latex (emulsion polymer) synthesis, further underscoring the potential of HOSBM-MA as a sustainable alternative to conventional surfactants. Synthesized latexes (monomer conversion >90%, particle sizes 40–60 nm) exhibit high colloidal stability, indicating the effectiveness of HOSBM-MA as a polymeric surfactant/emulsifier.