Physicochemical characterization of biosurfactant and its potential to remove oil from soil and cotton cloth

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers 2012-08, Vol.89 (4), p.1110-1116
• Main Authors: Jain, Rakeshkumar M., Mody, Kalpana, Mishra, Avinash, Jha, Bhavanath
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkaliphiles; Applied sciences; bacteria; biopolymers; Biosurfactant; biosurfactants; Chemistry; cotton; Cotton Fiber; Decontamination. Miscellaneous; detergents; emulsifying; Exact sciences and technology; Exopolymer; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; fucose; galactose; gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; General and physical chemistry; glucose; hydrocarbons; Klebsiella; Klebsiella - chemistry; mannose; molecular weight; Natural polymers; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Oil removal; oils; particle size; Petroleum; Physicochemistry of polymers; Pollution; Polysaccharides, Bacterial - chemistry; rhamnose; soil; Soil and sediments pollution; Starch and polysaccharides; sulfates; Surface physical chemistry; Surface-Active Agents - chemistry; Surface-active agents: properties; thermal stability; uronic acids; viscosity
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2012.03.077

► Biosurfactant production by an alkaliphile, Klebsiella sp. ► Biosurfactant efficiently removed oil from soil as well as cloth. ► Exhibited excellent compatibility and additive effect with detergents. An alkaliphilic bacterium, Klebsiella sp. strain RJ-03, produced a biosurfactant, which showed low viscosity with pseudoplastic rheological behavior and exhibited emulsification activity with oils and hydrocarbons. The biosurfactant has excellent oil removing efficiency as compared to chemical surfactants. The isolated biosurfactant has compatibility with detergents and enhanced oil removing efficiency from soil and cotton cloths. It comprised of sugar, uronic acid, protein and sulfate. GC–MS analysis confirmed the presence of six monosaccharides (w/w), glucose (6.65%), galactose (23.98%), rhamnose (14.94%), mannose (17.54%), fucose (9.47%) and 6-O-Me-galactose (1.4%). It is a high molecular weight, thermostable biopolymer showing degradation above 300°C. Positive ion reflector mode of MALDI TOF-TOF MS analysis revealed series of low and mid range mass peaks (m/z) corresponding to mono-, di-, tri- and oligo-saccharides content. The NMR, FT-IR, EDX-SEM, AFM and PSD analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups, bonds, elements and particle size respectively.