Valorization of soybean oil residue through advanced technology of graphene oxide modified membranes for tocopherol recovery

Author(s)

do Nascimento, Nicole Novelli ; Vieira, Ana Carolina ; Tardioli, Paulo Waldir ; Bergamasco, Rosangela ; Vieira, Angelica Marquetotti Salcedo

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; v. N/A, p. 14-pg., 2022-03-09.

Abstract

Soybean oil deodourization distillate (SODD) is a source of tocopherols used to produce vitamin E, in which alpha-tocopherol is the isomer with higher biological activity and value-added for the food industry. Hence, the aim of the present study was to modify the membrane surface with sulphonic groups, polyethyleneimine, and graphene oxide nanoparticles functionalized with tannic acid to recover SODD alpha-tocopherol. First, the SODD saponification step was conducted followed by a liquid-liquid separation, which performed a pre-concentration of alpha-tocopherol approximately 28 times. The unsaponifiable material was dried and diluted in hexane, obtaining the feed solution for the membrane filtration processes. HPLC-UV/DAD analysis showed that the modified membrane containing 1.12 mg of graphene oxide and 4.50 mg of tannic acid (M3) allowed to recover 82.00% of alpha-tocopherol in the concentrate (14.16 wt.% of alpha-tocopherol). From the characterizations of the modified membrane, it was observed that M3 presented hydrophobic properties and was able to be reused in two filtration cycles with a 64.39% flow recovery rate and a 71.96% recovery of alpha-tocopherol. The results showed that the membrane modification with graphene oxide is a compelling methodology with low energy consumption and is eco-friendly for the recovery and purification of alpha-tocopherol from SODD. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/10636-8 - From the cell factory to the Biodiesel-Bioethanol integrated biorefinery: a systems approach applied to complex problems in micro and macroscales
• Grantee: Roberto de Campos Giordano
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants