Surfactants from Renewable Resources / Wiley Series in Renewable Resources (PDF)

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.