Pre-Commercialisation Scale-up & Derisking of a novel biobased surfactant

Bioataraxis ltd is a new spin-out company from Imperial College. The company is developing a new chemical technology called Ecosaf to produce new bio-based surfactants called SAF for various applications (cleaning, lubricants, paints, agriculture, etc.), with a focus on cleaning products. The aim is to break the surfactant industry's dependence on fossil fuels and provide new green credentials in this sector, enabling a reduction in CO2 emissions.

The process consists of converting agricultural waste products into SAF in a four-step process. The process is fully dependent on renewable feedstocks and the scalability of the process was demonstrated in only 9 months of development at TRL 6\.

In this project, Bioataraxis will take various measures to strengthen its commercial and financial position by taking advantage of the high TRL of the technology achieved so far and its environmental sustainability. Indeed, SAF has been shown to deliver a unique cleaning performance comparable to the fossil fuels analogues. Compared to all other conventional surfactants currently on the market, SAF's performance in hard water is superior and CO2 emissions are reduced by 70%.

With this project, Bioataraxis aims to reveal the commercial potential of SAF and prepare the next round of investment to continue scale-up trials and apply for REACH registration. To fulfil these activities, the grant will support: 1)Reach surfactant users and establish collaborative product evaluation to implement SAF in their portfolio;

2)Set the basis for the next investment round to raise £ 8 millions to proceed with REACH registration and continue scale-up trials to improve the SAF's production process;

3)Perform an LCA to evaluate the effect in valorising biochar as side product from the processing of the raw material and seek conditions to increase the CO2 reduction over 70 % and claim carbon negativity.

SAF's credentials are unique in this sector and have the potential to transform the market and set new performance and sustainability standards for household care products. However, regulatory approvals and the construction of the large-scale plant require large amounts of capital and a long timeframe. With this funding, we will accelerate this process and hope that SAF will soon be found in all our home care products.