Researchers from China performed an experiment to prepare a novel zwitterionic surfactant from castor oil. The novel zwitterionic surfactant was prepared using a high yield route and its performance for oil recovery was analyzed.

Experimental results showed that the biobased surfactant exhibited strong electrolyte tolerance, temperature resistance, and thermo stability, better wetting and foaming performance, which implies that biobased surfactants could be of great potential to replace traditional petroleum based surfactants.

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