Nikolova Christina, Gutierrez Tony
School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021 Feb 15;9:626639. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.626639. eCollection 2021.
Surfactants are a group of amphiphilic chemical compounds (i.e., having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains) that form an indispensable component in almost every sector of modern industry. Their significance is evidenced from the enormous volumes that are used and wide diversity of applications they are used in, ranging from food and beverage, agriculture, public health, healthcare/medicine, textiles, and bioremediation. A major drive in recent decades has been toward the discovery of surfactants from biological/natural sources-namely bio-surfactants-as most surfactants that are used today for industrial applications are synthetically-manufactured via organo-chemical synthesis using petrochemicals as precursors. This is problematic, not only because they are derived from non-renewable resources, but also because of their environmental incompatibility and potential toxicological effects to humans and other organisms. This is timely as one of today's key challenges is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas) and to move toward using renewable and sustainable sources. Considering the enormous genetic diversity that microorganisms possess, they offer considerable promise in producing novel types of biosurfactants for replacing those that are produced from organo-chemical synthesis, and the marine environment offers enormous potential in this respect. In this review, we begin with an overview of the different types of microbial-produced biosurfactants and their applications. The remainder of this review discusses the current state of knowledge and trends in the usage of biosurfactants by the Oil and Gas industry for enhancing oil recovery from exhausted oil fields and as dispersants for combatting oil spills.
表面活性剂是一类两亲性化合物（即同时具有疏水和亲水结构域），几乎在现代工业的各个领域都构成不可或缺的组成部分。它们的重要性体现在使用量巨大以及应用范围广泛，涵盖食品饮料、农业、公共卫生、医疗保健/医学、纺织品和生物修复等领域。近几十年来的一个主要趋势是从生物/天然来源发现表面活性剂，即生物表面活性剂，因为如今用于工业应用的大多数表面活性剂都是以石化产品为前体通过有机化学合成法合成制造的。这存在问题，不仅是因为它们源自不可再生资源，还因为它们与环境不相容，且对人类和其他生物可能产生毒理学影响。这很及时，因为当今的关键挑战之一是减少我们对化石燃料（石油、煤炭、天然气）的依赖，并转向使用可再生和可持续资源。考虑到微生物拥有的巨大遗传多样性，它们在生产新型生物表面活性剂以替代有机化学合成生产的表面活性剂方面具有很大潜力，而海洋环境在这方面具有巨大潜力。在本综述中，我们首先概述不同类型的微生物产生的生物表面活性剂及其应用。本综述的其余部分讨论了石油和天然气行业使用生物表面活性剂提高枯竭油田采油率以及作为应对石油泄漏的分散剂的知识现状和趋势。
