TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Bio-Derived Phytol Chemical Herders

High-Performance Marine Oil Spill Response Technology Chemical herders are surfactants applied to the water surface surrounding an oil slick. By reducing water surface tension and creating interfacial spreading pressure, herders drive thin oil films into thicker slicks that can be more readily burned or mechanically recovered. This approach is especially valuable for remote spills where physical recovery methods are impractical. Bio-Derived Phytol Chemical Herders from Los Alamos National Laboratory introduces a new family of surfactants built from two renewable components: (1) phytol, a long-chain alcohol and major component of chlorophyll, used as the hydrophobic tail; and (2) sugar alcohols, used as the polar head group. These compounds have been demonstrated as effective chemical herde