AQUEOUS AND NONAQUEOUS MICROEMULSION SYSTEMS WITH A PALM OIL-BASE EMOLLIENT

Microemulsions with a palm oil-based emollient, i.e., medium-chain tri glyceride (MCT), and water or glycerol, stabilized by two oppositely c harged ionic surfactants and a medium-chain alcohol, were investigated . The results showed that only the water-in-MCT or the glycerol-in-MCT microemulsions were prominent. The maximum solubilization of the MCT emollient was higher in cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, i.e., the pos itively charged surfactant that contained a nitrogen atom, than the ne gatively charged surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate. However, the resul ts did not lend themselves for selecting any decisive factor that woul d explain the different solubilization behavior encountered in the inv estigated aqueous and nonaqueous systems.