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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Enhanced Oil Recovery using a Combination of Biosurfactants
Published on: June 3, 2022
Optimization of the Surface Activity of Biosurfactant-Surfactant Mixtures
Yao Zhou1, Swara Harne1, Samiul Amin1
1Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY 10471 (Y.Z., S.H., S.A.).
Abstract:
The impact that rhamnolipid (RL) and sophorolipid (SL) biosurfactants has on solution surface activity when used in conjunction with the commercially important zwitterionic surfactant cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) is highlighted for the first time through surface tension and surface rheology measurements on binary and ternary mixtures of these surfactants. It was observed that in both the binary (CAPB/RL) and the ternary (CAPB/RL/SL) mixtures, RL tends to dominate at the air-water interface and primarily control both surface tension and surface elasticity behavior. Significant reduction of surface tension and enhancement of surface elasticity is observed as a result of the competitive adsorbtion/dominance of the RL at the air-water interface and this leads to performance enhancements in terms of foam stability.
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