Superfund Research Program


September 2018

Glycosurf, LLC

Researchers at Glycosurf, LLC are developing green surfactants for efficient and cost-effective removal of heavy metals and rare earth elements from wastewater.

Technology GlycoSurf's technology produces high-purity and high-performance glycolipids, for example rhamnolipids, using renewable sugar molecules. Unlike many surfactants used in remediation, rhamnolipids are bio-based and eco-friendly.
Innovation Rhamnolipids are a class of glycolipid surfactants traditionally produced primarily by Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. Using the traditional method, rhamnolipids are extracted in low-purity and at high-cost, and no two batches of rhamnolipids are exactly the same. GlycoSurf has developed a new low-cost, high-purity, scalable technology that eliminates the need for bacteria and uses a unique synthetic process that produces consistent rhamnolipid bio-based surfactants for a variety of applications.
Contaminant and Media Heavy metals and rare earth elements in wastewater
Principal Investigator Chett Boxley, Ph.D.
Institution Glycosurf, LLC
Grant Number R43ES029423