SURFACTANTS
Growing demand for sustainable cleaning products “ has given rise to a new era of biobased surfactants based on biological raw materials ”, according to a recent white paper by Evonik . The market is estimated at $ 5.52 billion in 2022 , with a CAGR of 5.6 % from 2017 to 2022 . By comparison , the total surfactants market is put at $ 40 billion , with a CAGR of 4.5 % to 2025 . The term ‘ biobased surfactants ’, as defined by Evonik , encompasses fully and partially biobased surfactants as well as true biosurfactants . The former two are made from plant sources including soya , palm and palm kernel , rapeseed , sunflower , tallow and coconut . Despite their ‘ natural ’ credentials , there are plenty of sustainability and other environmental question marks around these biobased surfactants . Where they are made from tropical oils , sustainable harvesting is hard to implement and certify . Hazardous materials are often used during harvesting , further processing is usually required to obtain the necessary functionality – or petrochemical ingredients may need to be added - and they are still manufactured by a chemical process . Biosurfactants , according to Evonik , are very different , being “ 100 % natural surface-active agents which are excreted by an organism during biological synthesis ”. They are usually made at production scale by fermenting oils and / or sugars . “ They are the first class of surfactant that is not only environmentally friendly , but capable of delivering rates of functionality that are equivalent , or even superior , to traditional unsustainable petrochemical-based surfactants ,” the company says . “ In addition to coming from renewable , non-tropical raw materials , biosurfactants are gentle on the skin , impervious to hard water , possess excellent cleansing and foam cleaning characteristics , are 100 % biodegradable and are well tolerated by aquatic organisms .”
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Evonik itself has developed two glycolipid-based platforms of biosurfactants , known as sophorolipids and rhamnolipids , for home and personal care applications . The latter are made by converting sugars using the Pseudomonas putida bacterium . No chemical processing or derivatisation is required once the substance has been isolated in the fermentation broth . The products , Evonik says , “ are completely biodegradable irrespective of the presence of oxygen and require no tropical oils as feedstock . They are also able to remove oils or dirt as reliably as petrochemical-based synthetic surfactants , even in hard water , have exceptional foam-forming properties , and provide a mild , gentle feeling on the skin .” Recent months have seen significant developments in the biosurfactants field in north-west England . Holiferm is to bring its sophorolipid products to the market following a $ 7 million investment round led by US-based firm Rhapsody Venture Partners , while Libra Speciality Chemicals ‣
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