A "Green" Candle- Toni Wang

A "Green" Candle

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHVO) has recently been used to make vegetable oil-based candles. However, its use is limited primarily to container candles because of its inherent physical properties, such as brittleness when hard and greasiness when it is soft, lacking the desired cohesiveness and elasticity of inexpensive commercial petroleum paraffin and expensive beeswax.

To improve the cohesiveness and thermal properties of PHVO, Dr. Tong Wang and partners chemically modified the fatty acyl chain of PHVO through a series of reactions, a cost effective modification. These newly synthesized derivatives or waxes were found to significantly improve the cohesiveness and melting range of PHVO, thus promising a possible replacement of petroleum wax and the traditional tallow wax because of its more desirable environmental and combustion properties. The new materials with increased cohesiveness are also expected to replace paraffin in other applications, such as coating waxes and in encaustic painting.

For further information see:

Iowa State researcher develops biofriendly candle wax that burns cleaner

Soy research offers greener materials for hot wax art