Surface active agents biodegradable

Sorbitol is the most important higher polyol used in direct esterification of fatty acids. Esters of sorbitans and sorbitans modified with ethylene oxide are extensively used as surface-active agents. Interesteritication of fatty acid methyl esters with sucrose yields biodegradable detergents, and with starch yields thermoplastic polymers (36). 

Cationic surfactants are surface-active agents that have one or more functional groups in their molecule that ionise in aqueous solution to produce positively charged organic ions. The most representative cationic surfactants are quaternary ammonium derivatives in which the N atom is bonded to four alkyl groups. For many years, ditallow dimethylammonium chloride (DTDMAC) has been the most widely used product of this family. Its recalcitrance to biodegradation, however, has... 

Baleux, B. and Caumette, P. (1977) Biodegradation of some cationic surface-active agents. Water Res., 11, 833-841. 

To increase the usefulness of bioremediation as an effective field remedial tool, significant investments have been made towards the development of means to remove sorbed PAHs, attack sources of NAPL, and subsequently increase the aqueous solubility/bioavailability, and thus the biodegradability, of targeted compounds. To date, one of the most effective ways to accomplish these tasks involves the use of surface active agents (i.e., surfactants). A variety of synthetic surfactants have been shown effective in increasing the bioavailability of PAHs and other hydrophobic contaminants (Kile Chiou, 1989, 1990 Edwards et al., 1991 Liu et al., 1991). Although the solubilization process is not completely understood, these studies showed that a variety of ionic and nonionic surfactants could significantly increase the water solubility of monitored chemicals. 

The highly effective surface active agent, Decon 90, which is claimed to be suitable for virtually all laboratory cleaning applications. It is totally rinsable, phosphate free, biodegradable and non-toxic. It is particularly suitable for silicone oils, greases, polymeric residues and tars. 

CNC PAL 100 is a biodegradable non-ionic surface active agent which possesses high detergency, wetting and emulsifying properties. ... 

Saturated O-heterocycles from carbohydrates as biodegradable surface active agents 89WCH135. 

Oil-in-water emulsion — Oil droplets dispersed in surrounding water and formed as a result of wave action or by a chemical dispersant. Oil-in-water emulsions show a tendency to coalesce and reform an oil slick when the water becomes calm, although the presence of surface-active agents in the oil or artificially added in the form of chemical dispersants increases the persistence of this type of emulsion. Natural dispersion of large quantities of oil can follow the formation of oil-in-water emulsions and weathering processes such as dissolution, oxidation, and biodegradation may be accelerated due to the large increase in the surface area of the oil relative to its volume. (See also Emulsification, Water-in-oil emulsion.)... 

Decon 90. It is an extremely effective surface-active-agent, which is asserted to he practically able to take care of all laboratory cleansing operations. Besides, it also bears other remarkable characteristic features of the present day consumer acceptability requirements, namely 100% biodegradable, almost non-toxic, phosphate-free, and totally rinsable. It has been widely recommended for the removal of various obstinate deposits, such as tars, polymeric residues, greases and silicone oils. 

In many instances, surfactant action is needed at some stage of an operation but unnecessary, or even unwanted, at some later stage. The problems with residual surfactant may be environmentally related, such as with slowly biodegradable surfactants in sewage plants. The problems may also be of a technical nature since the presence of surface-active agents in the final product may affect the product performance in a negative way. 

OECD, Expert Group Determination of the Biodegradability of Anionic Synthetic Surface Active Agents, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, 1971. 

SURFONIC JL-80X is a fluid, water soluble, biodegradable, nonionic surface-active agent which combines into one product good detergency and wetting properties and low freeze and pour points. It is non-gelling in water at 25C and higher. 

LAS is more biodegradable than ABS because the alkyl portion of LAS is not branched and does not contain the tertiary carbon, which is so detrimental to biodegradability. Since LAS has replaced ABS in detergents, the problems arising from the surface-active agent in the detergents (such as... 

---