Castor oil: a suitable green source of capping agent for nanoparticle syntheses and facile surface functionalization

Castor oil (CO) is an inedible vegetable oil (VO) that has been employed extensively as a bioresource material for the synthesis of biodegradable polymers, cosmetics, lubricants, biofuels, coatings and adhesives. It is used in medicine, pharmaceuticals and biorefineries, due to its versatile chemistry. However, there has been less focus on CO as an alternative to toxic and expensive solvents, and capping/stabilizing agents routinely used in nanoparticle syntheses. It provides a richer chemistry than edible VOs as a solvent for green syntheses of nanoparticles. CO, being the only rich source of ricinoleic acid (RA), has been used as a solvent, co-solvent, stabilizing agent and polyol for the formation of polymer–nanoparticle composites. RA is a suitable alternative to oleic acid used as a capping and/or stabilizing agent. Unlike oleic acid, it provides a facile route to the functionalization of surfaces of nanoparticles and the coating of nanoparticles with polymers. For applications requiring more polar organic solvents, RA is more preferred than oleic acid. In this review, we discuss the production, chemical and physical properties, triglyceride and fatty acid (FA) compositions and applications of CO, focusing on the use of CO and RA as well as other VOs and FAs in syntheses of nanoparticles and surface functionalization.