Aerobic biodegradation of amphoteric amine-oxide-based surfactants: Effect of molecular structure, initial surfactant concentration and pH

•Amine-oxides-based surfactants are completely biodegradable in aerobic conditions.•Differences in the biodegradability are due to their structural differences.•Biodegradability is lower due to the presence of an amide group in the alkyl chain.•Initial surfactant concentration had a positive influence on the biodegradation.•Biodegradability in acid conditions is slower and in some cases lower.

The present study was designed to provide information regarding the effect of the molecular structure of amphoteric amine-oxide-based surfactants and the initial surfactant concentration on their ultimate biodegradation. Moreover, given this parameter's pH-dependence, the effect of pH was also investigated. Three amine-oxide-based surfactants with structural differences in their hydrophobic alkyl chain were tested: Lauramine oxide (AO-R12), Myristamine oxide (AO-R14) and Cocamidopropylamine oxide (AO-Cocoamido). We studied the ultimate biodegradation using the Modified OECD Screening Test at initial surfactant concentrations ranged from 5 to 75 mg L−1 and at pH levels from 5 to 7.4. The results demonstrate that at pH 7.4, amine-oxide-based surfactants are readily biodegradable. In this study, we concluded that ω-oxidation can be assumed to be the main biodegradation pathway of amine-oxides and that differences in the biodegradability between them can be explained by the presence of an amide group in the alkyl chain of AO-Cocoamido; the CN fission of the amide group slows down their mineralization process. In addition, the increase in the concentration of the surfactant from 5 to 75 mg L−1 resulted in an increase in the final biodegradation of AO-R12 and AO-R14. However, in the case of AO-Cocoamido, a clear relationship between the concentration and biodegradation cannot be stated. Conversely, the biodegradability of AO-R12 and AO-R14 was considerably lower in an acid condition than at a pH of 7.4, whereas AO-Cocoamido reached similar percentages in acid conditions and at a neutral pH. However, microorganisms required more time to acclimate.

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