Surfactants have a wide range of applications and types for use such as in detergents, adjuvants, fabric softeners, paints, motor oils, and paints to name a few. Laundry applications contain the largest market consumption of all surfactants, and most formulations are based on surfactants obtained from coconut or palm fatty acids. With industrial concerns over supply chains and not having a US source of coconut or palm fatty acids, bio-based surfactants have begun expressing interest in soybean as a feedstock. Until now, C18-based fatty acids have not been used in detergents due to their lack of water miscibility leading to poor performance. C18 surfactants have, however, been used as fabric softeners by placing functionalities such as “ester-quats” on the structure. By performing Battelle’s chemistry, we change the properties by increasing water miscibility leading to improved performance. Our objective during this fourth-year project was to determine if a full soy-based surfactant laundry detergent formulation could meet the requirements of a potential partner on the formulation and commercialization of novel surfactants, developed from both commodity and high oleic soybean oil (HOSO). Commodity and high oleic soy candidates were formulated and evaluated in liquid laundry stain removal testing and performed equivalent to the non-soy standard formulation.

Battelle's synthetic approaches for converting soy C18 fatty acids into water miscible structures overcomes deficiencies which have traditionally hindered their use as surfactants. Anionic and nonionic surfactants account for ~6.7 billion pounds (2017; BBC Research) of all surfactants used in laundry detergent with potential for ~22 million pounds of HOSO (or ~2 million bushels HO soybean) new use assuming a modest 0.5% market penetration. The market conditions surrounding HOSO availability have led to the potential for increased HOSO pricing which will affect price competitiveness on a few HOSO surfactant candidates.