Grant: Alliance Grants

In the food and transformer industries, synthetic antioxidants have been used extensively to boost shelf life and oxidative resistance. However, the past decades have witnessed significant concentrations of these antioxidants in biological and non-biological matrices that raise concern for health issues. Moreover, these synthetic antioxidants have chemical similarities to naturally occurring polyphenolic antioxidants in vegetable oils. Given that vegetable oils will be subjected to thermal stresses higher than normal in transformers, their concentrations need to be increased to make them efficient coolants. Their viscosity must also be reduced which is possible through the use of such polyphenolics. This research will systematically address oxidation degradation and viscosity problems, emphasizing on naturally occurring greener phytochemicals based on experimental and elaborate spectroscopic approaches as follows: The type of naturally occurring polyphenolics will be identified using chromatography and their concentrations will be determined using spectroscopic approaches. Their optimized antioxidant potentials will be researched by varying concentrations while the viscosity reduction potential of catechin (polyphenol) will also be researched. The research will upgrade from laboratory to pilot scale where optimum concentrations of natural antioxidants will be used as substitutes for hazardous, synthetic antioxidants to test the onsite performance of vegetable oils as substitutes for non-renewable minerals oils.