Abstract

It would appear that throughout the secondhalf of the 21st century the availability of synthetic surfactants like alkyl and alkyl benzene sulphonates, fatty alcohols ethoxylates and alkoxylates, ethylene oxide/propylene oxide random and block copolymers, and many more anionic, nonionic, cationic and amphoteric surfactants, almost tailor made to producespecific effects, distracted the attention of formulators from a broad range of renewable surfactants and diverted the attention from a systematic applied research on their possible uses. This situation is changing,driven by industry and public opinion sensitivity onmatters of renewability/sustainability and by the human safety, environmental impact and sustainability of a number of synthetic surfactants not to mention themany issues raised by REACH. This article provides a definition of renewable surfactants, reviews the majorclasses commercially available and the marketshistorically accessed. It highlights the importance of a systematic formulation/applied research work for abroader use of renewable surfactants to compete cost/effectively with synthetic surfactants, particularly now that the concept of cost/effectiveness is interpreted differently that it only did a few years ago. Finally thefield of biosurfactants is examined, with brief overall considerations on recent technological achievements and of the challenges ahead.