Project overview
Surface active agents (SAs), or surfactants and emulsifiers, are a group of chemicals which form an indispensable component in almost every sector of modern industry and has a total global production estimate of over 13 million tonnes per year because of their capacity to mix water-soluble and oily substances together.
The importance of SAs to industry is shown not only by the enormous volumes that are used but by the range and diversity of industrial applications, including healthcare, agriculture, public health, textiles, food and in environmental pollution control.
However, while having a tremendous industrial importance most of them are synthetically manufactured using petrochemicals, which are non-renewable and also have a potentially toxic effect on humans and the environment.
Now the MARISURF project, an international consortium led by a team at Heriot-Watt University, hopes that, with the aid of a €4.8m grant from Horizon 2020, the EU framework programme for research and innovation, their work can satisfy an increasing consumer demand for natural and ‘environmentally-friendly’ ingredients, as well as changing government legislation requiring a shift toward industrial use of renewable and less toxic compounds.