Bio-based Surfactants Derived from Sugar Beet Pulp

This study explores the sustainable development and application of bio-based surfactants derived from renewable resources. It introduces the surfactant blends rMix and N-Mix, derived from sugar beet pulp, offering eco-friendly alternatives for various applications. These blends exhibit good solubility, foamability, and surface tension reduction, comparable to commercial surfactants. Notably, the surfactants exhibit mildness towards the skin, as demonstrated by their significantly lower skin irritation potential compared to petrochemically- derived surfactants SDS and SLES, highlighting their suitability for skin-sensitive applications. Furthermore, viscosity studies suggest their compatibility in formulation mixtures, offering alternatives to the surfactant cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB). Sustainability considerations are addressed for the development of the surfactants, emphasizing the importance of solvent and catalyst recycling, alongside life cycle assessments for environmental impact analysis. Although optimization and scale- up efforts are necessary to enable direct comparison with industrial standards, these surfactants hold potential as sustainable ingredients with good performance.