Soybean oil microemulsions with oleic acid/glycols as cosurfactants

The preparation of biocompatible microemulsions of soybean oil in systems made of anionic surfactant, oleic acid, water, and several glycols was considered. The selected glycols were ether derivatives (methyl, ethyl, dimethyl, and diethyl ether) of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol. The study was performed using pseudoternary phase diagrams in which the three apexes were occupied by soybean oil, a combination of surfactant/oleic acid, and a combination of water/glycol, respectively. The widest regions of microemulsions were obtained for systems containing methyl ether and especially ethyl ether of both ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol. The two latter compounds allowed the preparation of oil-in-water, bicontinuous, and water-in-oil microemulsions with final surfactant contents of 3–4%.