Sustainability and Tailored Performance Can Be a Reality, A Review of Bioderived and Bio‐Produced Surfactants

ABSTRACT

A trend towards biorenewability and sustainability has incentivized the increased commercialization of natural classes of surfactants; bioderived (e.g., alkyl polyglucosides) and bio‐produced (e.g., sophorolipids and rhamnolipids). Bio‐based surfactants also offer the formulator marketing advantages around renewable carbon or bio‐based formula content and less reliance on petroleum‐based ingredients. They demonstrate favorable safety profiles including low skin irritation, as well as negative sensitization, and genotoxicity results. Sophorolipids and rhamnolipids are capable of significant surface activity and antimicrobial properties. However, there are also limitations involved when dealing with bio‐produced surfactants including an inefficient manufacturing process, high‐priced material, and lack of application flexibility. In contrast, alkyl polyglucosides, are versatile and can be further functionalized synthetically allowing the chemistry to be geared towards specific applications. Additionally, functionalized alkyl polyglucosides can also be altered to different ionic classes of surfactants such as anionic, amphoteric or cationic. This allows them to compete with petroleum‐based surfactants in many industries in terms of performance while enhancing sustainability. This article explores bio‐based surfactants, their advantages and limitations.