TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Bio-Derived Phytol Chemical Herders
TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Bio-Derived Phytol Chemical Herders
Contact and place of performance
Caleb Ledgerwood
Los Alamos, NM 87545
USA
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...
View moreTechnology Description:
Bio-Derived Phytol Chemical Herders covers a family of amphiphilic molecules engineered for interfacial activity at the oil–water boundary. Each molecule combines:
Upon application to the water surface adjacent to an oil slick, these surfactants preferentially spread at the air–water interface, lowering local surface tension and generating a lateral driving force that compacts the oil layer into a thicker slick. The invention emphasizes renewable sourcing and reduced ecological burden relative to legacy herders that are known to be non-biodegradable and prone to bioaccumulation.
The disclosed work reports that the phytol–sugar alcohol surfactants have been demonstrated as effective chemical herders, with performance competitive with commercial benchmarks and with improved herding rate relative to earlier phytol-based approaches. The family nature of the chemistry provides room to tune headgroup identity and amphiphile balance to optimize spreading behavior and operational performance, while keeping the overall design within a renewable, environmentally considerate chemical space.
Market Applications:
Development Status: TRL 4
US Patent pending
LA-UR-26-23633
LANL Tech Partnerships: Unlock the Innovative Potential
Los Alamos National Laboratory offers a wide range of cutting-edge technologies and capabilities that may provide your company with a competitive edge in the market and unlock the innovative potential that can enhance, refine, and revolutionize your products.
LANL’s licensing program focuses on moving inventions developed by our researchers to commercial innovations. Patented and patent pending inventions and copyrighted software are available to existing and start-up companies through exclusive and non-exclusive licensing agreements. For specific discussions, please contact [email protected].
Note: This is not a call for external services for the development of this technology.
https://www.lanl.gov/engage/collaboration/feynman-center/partner-with-us/licensing-technology
m.lanl.gov/tech-search
The U.S. Department of Energy, through the TRIAD DOE Contractor at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), is offering a technology licensing opportunity for bio-derived phytol chemical herders under solicitation number S-191484. This innovation consists of a new family of surfactants designed for high-performance marine oil spill response. By utilizing renewable components—specifically phytol from chlorophyll as a hydrophobic tail and sugar alcohols as polar head groups—these amphiphilic molecules drive thin oil films into thicker slicks that are more easily burned or mechanically recovered. This technology is currently at Technology Readiness Level 4 (TRL 4) with a U.S. patent pending.
The surfactants serve as an environmentally considerate alternative to non-biodegradable and bioaccumulative commercial herders, demonstrating competitive performance against industry benchmarks such as ThickSlick 6535 and Siltech OP-40. The synthesis process is characterized as operationally simple and high-yielding, facilitating practical scale-up for manufacturing. While primarily focused on oil and gas spill remediation, the platform’s tunable chemical properties extend its potential utility to the broader specialty surfactant markets, including industrial cleaning and delivery systems.
This special notice is classified under NAICS 325998, All Other Miscellaneous Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing, and PSC 6850, Miscellaneous Chemical Specialties. There is no set-aside designated for this opportunity. Responses are accepted through June 30, 2026, and the primary point of contact is Caleb Ledgerwood in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Documentation for this notice includes a technology snapshot and a supplementary information file. This opportunity is strictly for the licensing of the technology to existing or start-up companies and is not a request for development services.
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