SYNTHESISING KOJIC PALMITATE NONIONIC SURFACTANT AS AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO REMOVE ENVIRONMENTALLY POLLUTING COOKING OIL

Non-ionic compared with charged surfactants have many advantages such as hard water tolerant and are therefore, widely used in many applications such as detergents. However, most synthetic non-ionic surfactants are non-biodegradable and harmful to aquatic organisms. Discarded cooking oil waste on the other hand has contributed to environmental pollution and is also harmful to aquatic organisms due to the inability of oxygen to penetrate through the oil layer. In this study, biodegradable non-ionic surfactant was synthesised via esterification between palmitoyl chloride and kojic acid; the synthesis was later applied to remove cooking oil via cloud point extraction. The FTIR spectrum shows stretching bands such as v(C=O) ester and v(C-O) ester at 1,697.77 cm-1 and 1,187.06 cm-1, respectively suggesting the successful formation of the compound and further confirmed with 13C NMR spectrum of the ester carbon (=C-O) signal observed at 168.59 ppm. The physicochemical properties of the synthesised surfactant showed typical Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC) of 0.3% for non-ionic surfactants, emulsion stability (72.32%), and cloud point (60°C). The optimum removal of cooking oil (68.55%) was at surfactant concentration 0.4% (w/v) and mixing speed 2,500 rpm at 65°C. The findings of this study showed a promising environmentally friendly non-ionic surfactant, which is a good alternative approach in eliminating waste cooking oil.