From nature’s gifts to troubles
Surfactant has become an indispensable basic raw material for human beings. It first appeared about 5,000 years ago. The original surfactants came from animals and plants. It is a gift from nature to mankind. It was not until the early 19th century that human creativity exploded, and various synthetic surfactants derived from petrochemical raw materials were born, which quickly took over a dominant position and continues to this day. Due to the huge increase in its output and the reduction in cost, surfactants have been widely used and are known as "industrial MSG". It began to participate in various branches related to human activities.
At present, there are thousands of surfactants in the world, with an annual output of more than 20 million tons. So much surfactant is discharged directly into the sewage system after use, and a considerable part of it is discharged directly into the natural environment. For example: injected into the ground, sprayed onto plants and the ground, and cleaned outdoors. Due to the low degradation efficiency of synthetic molecular structures, the huge amount used every year has caused great damage to the earth's ecology. Surfactants have now become a trouble for nature.
Global surfactant application distribution
The application of surfactants has expanded from the initial single use of civil cleaning to a wider range of daily chemicals, as well as all areas of production and life such as industry, agriculture, food, environmental protection, medicine, etc. Global surfactant downstream applications:
Classification of surfactants
The current surfactant industry is in a multi-type parallel stage, which can be divided into the following categories according to its raw material sources and production processes:
Surfactants are produced using petroleum as the initial raw material and through different downstream chemical synthesis processes. Such as: LAS (alkyl benzene sulfonate), AEO (fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether).
Surfactants are produced through chemical synthesis processes using petroleum and plant-derived ingredients as initial raw materials. Such as: AES (fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether sulfate), CAB (cocamidopropyl betaine).
Surfactants are produced through chemical synthesis processes using plant-derived ingredients as initial raw materials. Such as: APG (alkyl glycoside), SCG (sodium cocoyl glutamate, i.e. amino acid).
It is a surfactant produced through biological fermentation process using plant-derived ingredients as initial raw materials. Such as: Rhamnolipid, Sophorolipid, Surfactin.
Biosurfactant
Biosurfactants are surface-active substances metabolized by microorganisms. That is, surfactants produced by microbial fermentation.
The raw materials of biosurfactants are generally oils and sugars from plants. Under specific culture conditions, microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and fungi use enzymes produced during their metabolism to decompose and reorganize the structure of the raw materials. This results in the formation of amphiphilic surfactant-like substances. Biosurfactants generally have the following characteristics:
Why Choose Biosurfactants
Among the main types of surfactants, the comprehensive comparison of biosurfactants has obvious advantages:
Biosurfactants can truly "from nature and return to nature":
The strains originally existing in nature are selected and used in industrial production after continuous screening and optimization, without genetic modification of the strains.
Plant-derived raw materials, using food-grade oil and sugar as fermentation raw materials, 0 fossil carbon sources, 0 palm oil ingredients.
Biosurfactant molecules are not artificially created structures. They exist in nature and are part of the natural ecological cycle.
Biosurfactants can form a perfect continuous cycle: plants ⇒ biological fermentation into surfactants ⇒ natural biodegradation ⇒ water, carbon dioxide ⇒ plants.