ZETA POTENTIAL AND COLOR INVESTIGATIONS OF VEGETABLE OIL BASED EMULSIONS AS ECO-FRIENDLY LUBRICANTS
ROMICĂ CREŢU 1, LIVIU CĂTĂLIN ŞOLEA 2* 1. “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, Faculty of Sciences and Environment, Department of Chemistry, Physics and Environment, 47 Domneasca Street, 800008 Galati, Romania
2. “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 47 Domneasca Street, 800008 Galati, Romania
*Corresponding author: csolea@ugal.ro
In the past 10 years, the need for biodegradable lubricants has been more and more emphasized. The use of vegetable oils as lubricants offers several advantages. The vegetable oils are biodegradable; thus, the environmental pollution is minimal either during or after their use. The aim of this paper is to presents a preliminary study concerning the influence of some preparation conditions on the stability of vegetable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions as eco-friendly lubricants stabilized by nonionic surfactant. In this context, vegetable oil-in-water emulsions characteristics where assessed using microscopically observation and zeta potential. In addition, the color of these emulsions can be evaluated. It can be observed that the emulsions tend to stabilize in time.
