Surfactants From Renewable Resources

Surfactants are often completely invisible to us and yet they are present in almost every chemical that we use in our daily life. They are found in toothpastes, cosmetics, sunscreens, mayonnaise, detergents, and an array of cleaning products. Traditional surfactants are known to have adverse environmental impacts spurring research into eco-friendly and cost-effective surfactants from renewable resources. Surfactants from Renewable Raw Materials examines the class of surfactants synthesized using plant-based raw materials detailing their properties, applications, bioavailability, and biodegradability. The concluding chapter reviews patent activity over the last decade. Additional features include: Addresses the tremendous variation found in the raw materials used to synthesize commercially available surfactants. Explores the selection of raw materials based upon the desired hydrophobic group or hydrophilic group to be incorporated into the product. Examines the characteristics and medicinal applications of pulmonary surfactants in preterm babies as well as their probable contribution in COVID-19 Discusses the biodegradability of surfactants to assist with the determination of truly green surfactants. This comprehensive reference will prove indispensable for professional and academic researchers creating or working with bio-based surfactants.

Most modern surfactants are readily biodegradable and exhibit low toxicity in the aquatic environment, the two criteria for green surfactants. However the majority are synthesised from petroleum, so over the past decade the detergent industry has turned its attention to developing greener routes to create these surfactants via renewable building blocks. Surfactants from Renewable Resources presents the latest research and commercial applications in the emerging field of sustainable surfactant chemistry, with emphasis on production technology, surface chemical properties, biodegradability, ecotoxicity, market trends, economic viability and life-cycle analysis. Reviewing traditional sources for renewable surfactants as well as recent advances, this text focuses on techniques with potential for large scale application. Topics covered include: Renewable hydrophobes from natural fatty acids and forest industry by-products Renewable hydrophiles from carbohydrates, amino acids and lactic acid New ways of making renewable building blocks; ethylene from renewable resources and complex mixtures from waste biomass Biosurfactants Surface active polymers This book is a valuable resource for industrial researchers in companies that produce and use surfactants, as well as academic researchers in surface and polymer chemistry, sustainable chemistry and chemical engineering.

Touted as the new darling of the chemical industry, alkyl polyglycosides are gaining in popularity due to the fact that they are readily biodegradable, low-toxic, and made from renewable resources. Sugar-Based Surfactants compiles the most recent and relevant aspects of sugar-based surfactants, including self-association, phase behavior, and interfacial properties. Focusing on both colloidal and interfacial science, the book deals with the adsorption of surfactants in both the air-liquid and solid-liquid interfaces. It also covers new advances in surfactant science, such as the development of a family of potent surface active agents that are non-toxic, and thus usable in ubiquitous consumer products

Surfactants are ubiquitous and have applications in diverse areas, including food, cosmetics, detergents, lubricants, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and targeted drug delivery systems. Their wide diversity of applications owes to their unique structure, namely, a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic group present in the same molecule. Although most surfactants used industrially are synthetic, there is a growing need for natural surfactants, as the latter is obtainable from renewable sources and are less toxic and highly biodegradable in contrast to their synthetic counterparts. This book is a compilation of interesting articles by various experts that cover various applications of both synthetic and natural surfactants.

Environmental considerations are increasingly shaping the development of many industries. This is an overview of surfactants and the environment. It goes on to look at new surfactants derived from renewable, "natural" resources such as sucrose, seaweed and starch. Other chapters review a decade of change in the surfactant industry and assess future market trends. Some of the developments in surfactant technology are presented, including "gemini" twin-chained surfactants, sulfobetaines, alkyl phosphates and the use of alkyl alkoxylates and alkyl glucosides in highly alkaline solutions. The volume takes a practical approach throughout.

This book provides an overview of biobased surfactants currently under development. The first chapter provides an overview of biobased surfactant research and development in the industrial sector, including synthesis, applications, and current trends and directions in the field. Several chapters describe the current state-of-the-art of biosurfactants, natural amphiphiles synthesized by microorganisms, including their synthesis and applications. An additional focus area is on the application of biobased surfactants as lung surfactants. Many chapters involve the chemical and enzymatic synthesis and applications of biobased surfactants consisting of polyols derived from nature, particularly, mono- and di-saccharides and amino acids. The employment of enzymes as catalysts to direct the synthesis of biobased surfactants is particularly attractive due the reduction of solvent and energy use during the surfactants’ manufacture, and the reduction of purification costs and formation of impurities and by-products.