T³-Tensid · Biosurfactant · In development
The quiet ingredient,
made from what's left behind.
Surfactants are in more moments of your day than you would guess, and almost nobody thinks about where they come from. We make ours differently.
In development · open to development partners
What a surfactant is, and where it hides
You meet one a dozen times before lunch.
A surfactant is the molecule that lets water lift, wet, foam and carry things away. It is why soap works, and once you start noticing a surfactant, it turns up almost everywhere, most of it in places you would never think to look.
The layer you know
The layer you don't
Something this common, running through so much of daily life, is still made almost entirely from petroleum or palm oil. That is the part worth changing.
An invisible ingredient with a visible footprint
The way surfactants are made has not kept up with what they cost.
Petrochemical surfactants are fossil-based and often linger in water and soil long after their job is done. The palm- and plant-oil alternatives marketed as the greener choice carry their own cost: they drive deforestation, compete with food crops and depend on long, fragile global supply chains.
We make ours differently, letting microorganisms turn renewable feedstock and industrial side streams into high-performing, readily biodegradable surfactants that do the same job with better chemistry, and some things conventional surfactants cannot offer.
Four ways to make a surfactant
The same job. Very different origins.
Every surfactant lowers surface tension and lifts away dirt. What sets them apart is where the carbon comes from and what it leaves behind, and that is exactly where the four routes diverge.
Only the side-stream route avoids fossil carbon, palm oil and competition with food at the same time. That is the position T³-Tensid is built for, and it is also what carries the economics, because a biosurfactant grown on refined sugar is too expensive to ever be viable at scale.
Built for a messy input, with a clean output as the result
The feedstock is the whole point.
Conventional bio-based routes still ride on food-grade sugar and grain, commodities that have swung two- to threefold in a few years and compete with the food supply. T³-Tensid is designed to grow on renewable side streams instead, the by-products other processes leave behind. Because it is not a food ingredient, it is not bound by the rules that keep recovered material out of the food chain, so it can run on genuine side streams the rest of the platform is not allowed to touch. That is more than a sustainability story. It is the reason the product can reach a viable cost at scale at all.
Renewable side streams
Carbon from industrial by-products, kept in use instead of burned or discarded.
No palm oil, no food crops
Nothing that drives deforestation or competes with the food supply.
Viable by design
The side-stream feedstock is what brings the cost of a high-performing biosurfactant down to where it becomes competitive. Currently in development, ahead of market entry.
Why T³-Tensid
The same job, better chemistry, and some things conventional surfactants can't do.
Readily biodegradable
Designed to break down fully in the environment, OECD 301 testing underway.
Renewable & circular
Grown from side streams, not petroleum or palm oil.
Palm-oil-free
No deforestation, no palm-oil supply-chain risk.
Multifunctional
Beyond cleaning, T³ shows a second functionality in our own data, so one ingredient can do what usually takes two. We substantiate the detail with each partner.
High efficiency
Low surface tension and a low critical micelle concentration, so a little does a lot.
Mild
A gentle profile, suited to skin and to sensitive formulations.
Made in Germany
Short, decentralized, resilient supply chains.
Robust by design
Stable strains and processes that carry from the bench to the factory.
"Robustness is not a feature. It is our design principle."
Where it goes
One biosurfactant, built to be developed into many products.
T³-Tensid is offered through joint development, so we tune the molecule and its functionality to each partner's formulation rather than selling a fixed off-the-shelf grade.
Personal & home care skin, hair, surface
| Where it goes | What T³-Tensid brings |
|---|---|
| Skin & hair cleansing | Mild, biodegradable cleansing that works without the drying and irritation classic sulfates can cause. Foam, feel and function stay intact. |
| Home & surface care | Effective cleaning on a renewable, readily biodegradable base, with the option of a second functionality in a single ingredient. |
| Sensitive formulations | A gentle profile for products aimed at sensitive skin and a clean natural-origin positioning. |
Industry & agriculture process, agro
| Where it goes | What T³-Tensid brings |
|---|---|
| Industrial cleaning & processes | High-efficiency wetting and dispersing for industrial processes moving away from fossil-based surfactants. |
| Crop-protection adjuvants | A biodegradable adjuvant base for agricultural sprays, developed with partners for the target formulation. |
The applications shown are development directions, not finished products. Specific performance and any functional claims are substantiated per application together with our partners.
At a glance
Reference data.
Class
Biosurfactant
Feedstock
Renewable side streams
Function
Surfactant + second functionality
Biodegradability
OECD 301 in progress
Profile
Mild
Natural origin
ISO 16128*
Origin
Made in Germany
Supply model
Joint development
*Fermentation is an accepted natural process under ISO 16128. Natural-origin status to be confirmed in documentation. Full technical data shared under a development agreement.
Get in touch
Build a better surfactant with us.
T³-Tensid is in development and offered through joint development partnerships. If you are formulating away from fossil or palm-oil surfactants and want a renewable, biodegradable base tuned to your product, let's build it together.
Explore a collaborationor write directly to info@biophelion.de