Biomimetic amphiphiles: Biosurfactants

Several types of natural and biomimetic surfactants have recently been reported. These biosurfactants bear the same common structural features as conventional surfactants, but the presence of bioactive functionalities incorporates new features such as structural complementarity and biological specificity into the common character of self-assembly driven by amphiphilicity. This review provides an outline of trend in recent biosurfactant research. Whilst these biosurfactants are attractive to many potential applications, further characterisation of their physiochemical properties will benefit the design and fabrication of functional biomaterials and accelerate our advances in nanobiotechnology.