A multilayered supramolecular self-assembled structure from soybean oil by in situ polymerization and its applications.

ABSTRACT

The present study emphasizes in situ transformation of soybean oil to self-assembled supramolecular multilayered biopolymer material. The said polymer material was characterized and the entrapment efficacy of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties was studied. In brief, soybean oil at varying concentration was mixed with mineral medium and incubated under agitation (200 rpm) at 37 °C for 240 h. Physical observations were made till 240 h and the transformed biopolymer was separated and subjected to physical, chemical and functional characterization. The maximum size of the polymer material was measured as 2 cm in diameter and the cross sectional view displayed the multilayered onion rings like structures. SEM analysis illustrated the presence of multilayered honeycomb channeled structures. Thermal analysis demonstrated the thermal stability (200 °C) and high heat enthalpy (1999 J/g). Further, this multilayered assembly was able to entrap both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components simultaneously, suggesting the potential industrial application of this material.