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National Activities - Netherlands
Sustainable Surfactants Renewable Feedstocks for the 21st Century |
Protein Surfactants
W.J. Mulder, N.P.E. Smit, L.A. De
Graaf, J.M. Vereijken, ATO-DLO, Subdivision Industrial Proteins, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Introduction
In many (waterborne) systems, surfactants
play an important role as emulsifiers, wetting agents, dispersants.
foaming agents etc. Most surfactants are based on synthetic materials.
Nowadays, the search for surfactants which are biodegradable, non-toxic
and derived from renewable resources, is an important issue. Proteins are
an interesting starting material for the development of surfactants
because - i) various proteins possess inherent surface active properties
and (ii) proteins have many reactive groups which can be modified (both by
chemical and enzymatic ways) in order to adjust the properties of a
protein. For example, an important tool to introduce hydrophobicity in
proteins can be the attachment of an alkyl chain or a fatty acid.
Surfactants based on amino acids
In our institute we are
studying the relationship between surfactant structure and functionality
by starting from hydrophobized amino acids. From our research it can be
concluded that amino acid based surfactants are powerful emulsifiers and
foamers, with better properties than a commercial surfactant. Attachment
of a hydrophobic group to an amino acid results in highly surface active
substances. provided these are -COOH terminated
Surfactants based protein hydrolysates
From the experiments
that are performed in our laboratory it can be concluded that both the
emulsifying activity and foam expansion is highly increased when proteins
are hydrophobised. Protein hydrolysate has a strong ability to emulsify
oil in water, however can not form a foam. The hydrophobised protein
hydrolysate shows both a strong emulsifying and foaming behaviour.
Conclusions and future
A technical application based on
industrial proteins which is already on the market it the use of protein
based surfactants for instance in shampoos and detergents. These products
are often based on protein hydrolysates which are subsequently
hydrophobised. Though protein surfactants are very effective, the
hydrolysates often are not optimised for their functionality. In our
institute we are studying the relationship between the structure and
properties of protein surfactants. Proteins have high potential as
surfactants in amongst others the fields of paint industry and cosmetics.
Contacts
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