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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Enhanced Oil Recovery using a Combination of Biosurfactants
Published on: June 3, 2022
Chemicals from wastes: compost-derived humic acid-like matter as surfactant
Pierluigi Quagliotto1, Enzo Montoneri, Fulvia Tambone
1Dipartimento di Chimica Generale ed Organica Applicata, Università di Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy.
Abstract:
Compost humic acid-like (cHAL) polymeric matter (MW = 15610), isolated in 12% yield from food and green waste compost, exhibits very good surfactant properties in aqueous solution: i.e., critical micelle concentration (cmc) = 403 mg/L and surface tension at cmc = 36.1 mN/m. Values of cmc are confirmed also by conductivity and phenanthrene solubility measurements. These results, compared with those for other major commercial and research surfactants, propose cHAL as a competitive low-cost biosurfactant.
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