Preliminary results: Cashew Nut Shell Liquid extraction and its interaction at the air-water interface using molecular dynamics

The potential replacement of the currently used surfactants, by others more environmentally friendly produced from biomass, is the final purpose of this research. The preliminary advances of this project are presented. Beginning with the first step that is the extraction from the Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL), retrieved from the gulf of Fonseca region in Honduras, using a well-known and accessible solvent. The cashew nutshell oil, liquid rich in phenolic compounds such as cardanol, through organic transformation, is meant to become a novel and biodegradable surfactant. Furthermore, significant progress has been made in the study of the structural properties using the molecular dynamics simulation (MD). This, in order to evaluate the surfactant potential of the targeted compound and to compare these properties with the most widely used surfactants in the Honduran industrial area.