The use of naturally available building blocks for the preparation of high-performance polymers is attracting increasing interest. Betulin (or betulinol) is a naturally occurring, large, nonaromatic diol with a pentacyclic ring structure that can be extracted in high percentages from the bark of birch trees. Here we demonstrate that betulin can be used to prepare polyesters with exceptional thermal attributes through industrially viable and scalable melt polycondensation reactions. Specifically, betulin-based thermoplastics were synthesized using succinic acid, adipic acid, 1,12-dodecanedioic acid, and 1,18-octadecanedioic acid as comonomers and showed good solubility in common industrial solvents. Additionally, betulin-based polyester thermosets were formulated via the incorporation of glycerol as a cross-linker. A systematic study evaluating the effect of various comonomers on the structure−property relationships of these betulin-derived thermoplastics (M w s ranging from 7500 g mol −1 to about 60,000 g mol −1 ) and thermosets (E′ at room temperature ranging from 2.0 to 780 MPa) reveals that betulin is a renewable and versatile platform chemical for the preparation of high-performance polymeric materials. Indeed, these materials displayed glass transition temperatures ranging from 20 °C to about 215 °C, thermal stabilities in excess of 300 °C in both N 2 and air, and Young's moduli and tensile strengths exceeding 600 MPa and 9 MPa, respectively. These investigations provide new insights into the rational design of approaches toward betulin-based products for high-performance polymer applications.

Recently, consumers have become invested in more natural and sustainable ingredients contained in personal care products. Unfortunately, cationic surfactants are still heavily relied on as primary conditioning agents in products such as conditioning shampoos because of their ability to cling well to the negatively charged surface of hair follicles. Additionally, sulfates are utilized as cleansing agents because they are highly effective and low cost. The objective of this study is to find a more sustainable formulation for a conditioning shampoo without compromising the desired wet combing, rheological, and surface activity properties. The systems which were investigated contained hyaluronic acid (HA) at a variety of molecular weights and concentrations, in combination with a surfactant, either acidic sophorolipid (ASL) or alkyl polyglucoside (APG), and varying the presence of sodium chloride. A Dia-stron was utilized to test the wet combing force, a rheometer recorded the viscosity at various shear rates, and a tensiometer measured the surface tension of the samples before a visual foaming study was conducted. Molecular weight and concentration seemed to have a large impact on wet combing force, as well as rheology, with the largest molecular weight and concentration producing the lowest friction coefficient and desired rheological profile. The addition of a surfactant significantly aids in the reduction in surface tension and increased foamability. Therefore, the optimal system to achieve the largest reduction in wet combing force, large viscosity with shear-thinning behavior, and relatively low surface tension with decent foaming is composed of 1% HA at 800 kDa, 10% ASL and 1% NaCl. This system shows a viable sulfate-free and silicone-free option that can achieve both conditioning and cleansing.

Objective The main objective of this paper is to analyse the composition of a sulphate‐free binary or ternary surfactant system with alkyl olefin sulfonate (AOS), alkyl polyglucoside (APG) and lauryl hydroxysultaine (Sultaine). The composition was optimized by observing critical parameters such as surface activity and rheological properties while varying the concentration of APG in a ternary system, varying the ratio of AOS and Sultaine in a binary system and studying the effect of sodium chloride addition. The experimental results can provide an alternative, sulphate‐free surfactant system to replace the common system containing sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) and cocamidopropyl betaine (CapB), without compromising on the parameters previously mentioned. Methods A DuNouy Ring was utilized on a tensiometer to measure the surface tension of the samples. To observe foaming abilities of samples, a visual foaming study was conducted and recorded by taking pictures. A TA instruments mechanical rheometer was used to measure the viscosity. Results Studying the effect of APG concentration on surface tension illustrated that as APG concentration decreases, surface tension decreases as well. The minimum surface tension was found to be 26.587 for 7.5 wt.% AOS and 7.5 wt.% Sultaine. When the ratio between AOS and Sultaine changed, the 1:1 system produced the lowest surface tension value again. As the concentration of AOS decreased in the ratio, the surface tension increased. When the ratio was held constant, and APG was introduced into the system, the systems containing APG had higher surface tension values compared with the systems with the same ratios but did not have APG added. As the concentration of salt increased, the surface tension decreased for AOS, increased for the binary mixture and had no effect on Sultaine. Foaming has a direct correlation with surface tension so a decrease in surface tension led to better foaming abilities; therefore, the 1:1 ratio of AOS:Sultaine had the best foaming qualities. The AOS/Sultaine system exhibited Maxwellian behaviour, suggesting the presence of worm‐like micellar structures. As the concentration of APG increased, the viscosity decreased and at a concentration of 2.5 wt.% AOS, 5 wt.% APG and 7.5 wt.% Sultaine, the system changed from shear thinning non‐Newtonian fluid to Newtonian. Varying the ratio of AOS:Sultaine in the binary system, showed as the ratio changed, the viscosity decreased, and at a ratio of 1:3 AOS:Sultaine, the system was primarily Newtonian. As the ratio remained constant and APG was added, the viscosity continued to decrease and the 1:3 ratio was completely Newtonian. The addition of salt had no effect on the viscosity of Sultaine, but the viscosity of AOS increased at a salt concentration of 2 wt.%. The binary mixture saw as the concentration of salt increased, the viscosity profile decreased, even though the system remained non‐Newtonian and shear thinning. Conclusion The surface activity and rheological study of the sulfate‐free surfactant systems u...