UA SRP Investigators are Party to a New $4.4 Million Grant

biosurfactant_header2.jpg

University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (UA SRP) Director Dr. Raina Maier and Investigator Dr. Walt Klimecki are co-PIs on a $4.4 million grant jointly awarded to the University of Arizona by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The grant is entitled “Molecular design, synthesis and characterization of green glycolipid surfactants.” Surfactants are chemical compounds that break the surface tension between two liquids or a liquid and a solid, and include detergents, foaming agents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, and dispersants. They are important ingredients in a wide variety of consumer products and industrial processes and technologies. However, the toxicity of many conventional synthetic surfactants, as well as their persistence in the environment, is driving regulatory and consumer pressure to develop “greener,” more sustainable alternatives. Glycolipids (molecules made up of lipid with an attached carbohydrate) are one such alternative, which can be mass-produced by bacteria grown in the laboratory. The proposed effort combines the scientific expertise of four chemists (Jeanne E. Pemberton, PI, Robin L. Polt, co-PI, Steven D. Scharwtz, co-PI, and Hamish S. Christie, Senior Investigator), an environmental microbiologist (Raina M. Maier, co-PI) and a toxicologist (Walter T. Klimecki, co-PI) to explore the systematic design, synthesis, and characterization of a wide array of new glycolipid surfactants.

Maier’s early research on microbially-produced surfactants (bio-surfactants) was funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program. This research was focused on microbial glycolipids and the results were foundational for the present award which focuses on “bio-inspired” surfactants.