Hydrophobic and bio-based

The main by-product from palm oil refining is palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD). It mainly consisits of palmitic acid, oleic acid and to a lesser extent of their glycerides. PFAD can serve as an inexpensive bio-sourced raw material for the synthesis of hydrophobic acrylic resins. It is usually used in the manufacture of cheap soaps, as a precursor for animal feed and as a raw material for oleo-chemistry.