Renewable Surfactants for Biochemical Applications and Nanotechnology

Surfactants find applications in almost every chemical industry, such as household and industrial cleaning, paper, inks, agrochemicals, and personal care or pharmaceuticals. However, their production and use can have a negative impact on the environment and health. Increasing environmental concerns and the strong interest in renewable resources have led to the development of innovative and environmentally friendly surfactants produced by clean and/or sustainable technologies. The aim of this review is to explore the different types of surfactants and their architectures. Then, it will describe the two categories of renewable surfactants: biosurfactants obtained by fermentation, and bio-based surfactants containing either a bio-sourced polar head group or a bio-sourced hydrophobic tail. Finally, this review will focus on highly specialized applications of surfactants (protein crystallization, transfection, and nanotechnology), which are closely related to the ability of surfactants to organize themselves in supramolecular architectures.