U of M Researchers Invent ‘Perfect’ Soap Molecule

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, has invented a new soap molecule made from renewable sources that could dramatically reduce the number of chemicals in cleaning products and their impact on the environment.

The soap molecules also worked better than some conventional soaps in challenging conditions such as cold water and hard water. The technology has been patented by the University of Minnesota and is licensed to the new Minnesota-based startup company Sironix Renewables, according to a news release.

“Our team created a soap molecule made from natural products, like soybeans, coconut and corn, that works better than regular soaps and is better for the environment,” said Paul Dauenhauer, a co-author of the study, in a statement.

“This research could have a major impact on the multibillion-dollar cleaning products industry.”

Conventional soaps and detergents are viewed as environmentally unfriendly because they are made from fossil fuels, according to the university. When formulated into shampoos, hand soaps, or dishwashing detergents, these soaps are mixed with many additional difficult-to-pronounce and harmful chemicals that are washed down the drain.

“I think everybody has had the problem of trying to get shampoo out of their hair in hard water—it just doesn’t come out,” said Dauenhauer.

To combat this problem, most existing soaps and detergents add an array of additional chemicals, called chelants, to grab these minerals and prevent them from interfering with soap molecules, according to researchers. This problem has led to a long list of extra chemical ingredients in most conventional cleaning products, many of which are harmful to the environment.

The new OFS soap eliminates the hard water problem by using a naturally derived source that does not bind strongly to minerals in water. The researchers found that OFS molecules were shown to form soap particles (micelles) even at 100 times the conventional hard water conditions. As a result, a cleaning product’s ingredient list could be significantly simplified.

“The impact of OFS soaps will be greater than their detergent performance,” said University of Minnesota chemical engineering and materials science graduate student Kristeen Joseph. “OFS is made from straight carbon chains derived from soybeans or coconut which can readily biodegrade. These are really the perfect soap molecules.”

The researchers also use nanoparticle catalysts to optimize the soap structure for foaming ability and other cleaning capabilities. In addition to biodegradability and cleaning performance, OFS was shown to foam with the consistency of conventional detergents, which means it could directly replace soaps in existing equipment such as washing machines, dishwashers, and consumer products.

The invention of new soap technology is part of a larger mission of the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI), a U.S. Department of Energy – Energy Frontier Research Center led by the University of Delaware. Initiated in 2009, the CCEI has focused on transformational catalytic technology to produce renewable chemicals and biofuels from natural biomass sources.

To read the full research paper entitled “Tunable Oleo-Furan Surfactants by Acylation of Renewable Furans,” visit the ACS Central Science website.

Image via piperamirez, Flickr, used under Creative Commons