Gelation of commercially available mineral oils by lecithin and CaCl2 mixture

Abstract

We describe the gelation of commercially available mineral oils used in cell cultures, food preparations and cosmetics. The addition of lecithin and CaCl2 mixtures (<5wt%) to mineral oils induced the gelation of the mineral oils by controlling the molar ratio of lecithin and CaCl2. The formation of the gels is believed to reflect the entanglement of reverse cylindrical micelles created by interactions between the lecithin and CaCl2. The rheological properties of the gels were studied by analyzing dynamic and steady rheology data, and FTIR techniques were used to clarify the interactions between the headgroups of lecithin and CaCl2. In addition, we showed that mineral oil gels were readily ungelled (liquefied) by the addition of an ungelling agent, such as a small amount of ethanol, or by heating.