Background: Analysis and applications of lesser known underutilized seed oils are important, since there is little or no information on their composition and uses, most of them are discarded as waste every year. Objectives: The present work reports the antibacterial activities of diethanolamides (nonionic surfactant) and sulphated diethanolamide (anionic surfactant) synthesized from the seed oil of Citrullus lanatus.Materials and Methods: Diethanolamide biosurfactant was produced from the oil via transamidation reaction using sodium methoxide as catalyst while the diethanolamide was sulphated using chlorosulphonic acid. The conversion of the oil to the biosurfactants was monitored using FTIR spectrophotometer. Results: The iodine and saponification values of Citrullus lanatus oil were 118.50 ± 0.80 g iodine/100g and 199.10 ± 2.40 mgKOH/g respectively. Linoleic acid (56.9 %) was reported to be the most abundant fatty acid in Citrullus lanatus oil. Conclusions: The biosurfactants inhibited the growth of organisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli with diethanolamide biosurfactant exhibiting better antibacterial activity than sulphated diethanolamide.

Cloud point extraction (CPE) of trace metals from aqueous solutions is based on clouding phenomena of non-ionic surfactant used. This work aimed to separate Cr (III) ions from water samples using a cost-effective and environment-friendly method as CPE at high efficiency. Four different types of non-ionic surfactants have been selected and investigated for CPE to achieve high performance. Polyethylene glycol, glycerine, PO/EO block polymer, and ethoxylated polyamine surfactants are used in CPE experiments. The influence of important factors has been studied and optimized on the percent of extraction yield, pH, surfactant amount, Cr (III) ions concentration, temperature, and centrifugation time as well as ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) as chelating agent to enhance the separation process. As a result, polyethylene glycol, PO/EO block polymer, and ethoxylated polyamine were excellent surfactants since a complete separation of Cr (III) at pH 8 and a lower equilibrium time of about 2 minutes has been achieved.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to enhance the solubility of clarithromycin (CLR) using nonionic surfactants and some type of acids for preparation of the new formulations.Methods: Myrj 52 and chremophor (2.5 and 5% w/v) were used in two concentrations. To investigate solubility, the formulations were shaken for 48 hours at room temperature. For stability test, lyophilized samples were maintained in refrigerator at 4oC, and in oven at 40oC. Drug analysis was performed by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet detection.Results: Solubility tests indicated that lactobionic acid was the most effective to increase clarithromycin solubility and chremophor showed higher enhancing effect than myrj 52 on CLR solubility. The stability tests results also confirmed that shelf-lives of all formulations have been the equivalent to 24 months.Conclusion: On the whole, formulations described in this article may be very suitable for industrial-scale manufacturing and clinical application.

Given that most of the gaseous constituents of industrial chimneys are usually carbon dioxide which is one of the most important greenhouse gases. It seems that the hydration process is one of the newest methods for the separation of this gas from gaseous mixtures. In the gas hydrate formation industry, in addition to disadvantages, there are some advantages such as gas separation, transmission, and storage. Therefore, it is important to determine the appropriate promoter for the formation of gaseous hydrates as well as to find the inhibitor. In this study, the effect of tetra-n-butyl ammonium chloride (TBAC) (which is a thermodynamics promoter) and alkyl poly glucoside (APG) as a nonionic surfactant on the surface tension of carbon dioxide hydrate formation process have been studied. The experiments were carried out in a 218 cm3 batch reactor. The surface tension of CO2 hydrate has been determined at different concentrations and different temperatures and pressures. The nucleation classical theory has been used for this purpose. Designing the experiments performed by Design-Expert software. The results show that increasing the APG and temperature leads to decreasing the surface tension and in contrast, induction time decreases, and the experimental model of the effect of these parameters on surface tension presented as R2 = 0. 9898.

Although water and gas injection within enhanced oil recovery has garnered considerable attention in the contemporary era, some engineers argue that alternative and cost-effective methods could play a pivotal role in this field. The utilization of substances like surfactants and polymers is seen as an innovative technique that has substantially impacted the oil sector; however, the large-scale production of such materials is financially burdensome. Furthermore, manufacturing these substances results in hazardous wastes, posing risks to both human health and the environment, ultimately leading to extensive and irreversible pollution. Adopting natural surfactants emerges as a viable solution with relatively high efficacy. These plant-derived surfactants, extracted from indigenous plant leaves, are cost-effective, biodegradable, and pose no threat to human health or the environment. Incorporating these natural surfactants in oil-related experiments has yielded satisfactory outcomes, showcasing their effectiveness in reducing the interfacial tension between water and oil, modifying crude oil viscosity, and isolating heavy components of crude oil. Using conventional methods in the industry, such as water and gas injection, only leads to small exploitations, and in general, a considerable amount of oil remains in place. However, using modern methods, such as surfactant injection, these efficiencies increase to 30-40%. According to the micromodel injection tests, maximum recovery factors are achieved when natural surfactants interact well with divalent ions; the cedar non-ionic and Rosemary cationic surfactants have improved efficiency by 33% and 46%, respectively.

Liquid protein formulations are prone to form aggregates. The effect of nonionic surfactants such as Polysorbate 20 (PS 20) and n-Dodecyl b-D-maltoside (DDM) on the prevention of aggregation and conformational changes of recombinant human IFN b-1b (rhIFN b_1b) was explored. Polysorbate has been used in formulations of protein pharmaceuticals. There have been concerns about using PS 20 due to its residual peroxide content which may negatively affect protein efficacy. n-Dodecyl b-D-maltoside has been of interest and shown to be highly effective in prevention of aggregation. Fresh bulk of rhIFN b_1b was formulated using DDM or different concentrations of PS 20. Formulations were exposed to light stress condition according to the ICH guideline of Q1b. The overall conformational integrity of individual samples was characterized by a combination of Circular dichroism (CD), Fluorescence spectroscopy and RP_HPLC techniques.The CD spectrum depicting the conformational integrity of rhIFN b_1b showed 31.9% and 31.2% decreases in a-helix content of protein samples with 0.2% or 0.02% of PS20 compared to only18.2% of that containing 0.2% DDM. The RP-HPLC analysis also showed that theoxidized impurity in formulation containing DDM is less than those contain PS 20.Complementary analysis of the liquid formulations using IFR and UV methods also was in compliance with the data obtained by CD.Compared to PS 20, the sample of rhIFN b_1b formulation with DDM was more resistant to the destruction effect of light. Results were in accordance with previous studies and couldsuggest DDM as a reliable anti-aggregation surfactant in biopharmaceutical formulations.