Physicochemical and rheological properties of passion fruit oil and its polyol

Vegetable oils are excellent renewable sources for chemical and oleochemistry industries, since they can be functionalized to be used in various applications. Here we present some physical and physicochemical properties of passion fruit oil and polyol derivatives obtained from this oil. The polyols were obtained by hydroxylation with in situ generation of the performic acid. Physicochemical properties, such as chromatographic analysis, iodine value, index of acidity, peroxide index, fixation index, unsaponifiables, and hydroxyl index were determined according to standard methods. Furthermore, ¹H NMR was examined and physical properties including liquid density and rheometry were characterized as well. The results revealed a wide variation of the physicochemical characteristics among the oils and respective polyols. The NMR analyses demonstrated polyol structures practically without unsaturation. The liquid rheology showed that the viscosity of polyols is at least two orders of magnitude larger than the viscosity of the original oil, confirming that the hydroxylation reaction occurred successfully. The shear viscosity of the polyols did not exhibit a systematic dependence on the shear rate or significant time dependence for the examined samples. The results indicate that the polyol viscosity decreases with the drying time increasing. Practical applications: The use of renewable resources is growing and is attracting great interest in the academic and industrial fields. Vegetable oils have attracted a special attention because of their potential to replace petrochemical derivatives and to contribute to minimizing environmental impacts; vegetable oils are promising candidates for base fluids in environment‐friendly lubricants. Polyols obtained from oils open new possibilities of use as monomers for polyurethanes, which exhibit excellent properties beyond reactivity.