Effect of Gelator Composition on Properties of Molecular Gels

Molecular gels, a new class of solid bilayer membranes has emerged as a promising functional soft material in food and personal care applications. The search for renewable and bio based gelators has become attractive these days due to their green and sustainable functions. Materials from biomass are being studied as a potential eco-friendly source for the industry because of the biodegradability and less carbon footprint. The present study focuses on studying molecular gels as a potential alternative to saturated- and trans-fat. There is need for a different oil structuring method that is healthier than solid fat (trans-fat and saturated fat). Molecular gels have emerged as a healthier alternative due to their mechanistic resemblance to solid fat. Two sugar-alcohol-based low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) derived from Mannitol and Sorbitol were synthesized and have shown great potential in their ability to structure vegetable oil. However, these gelators result in gels that have different attractive individual characteristics. Hence, combining them may lead to more interesting and useful properties in the gels formed. The aim of this research is to examine how different ratios of these two gelators named M8 and S8 affect the parameters of the gel formed, like minimum gelation concentration, microstructure, oil binding capacity, gel-to-sol transition temperature, rheological properties, optical properties and solid fat content. These parameters will be studied to determine the gelator efficiency, thermal stability, and other physical properties of the gels. Our research has shown that the combination of these two gelators effectively influenced the parameters of the gels formed.