Superfund Research Program
September 2018
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. |
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| 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 |