Relationship between the physicochemical parameters and biodegradation rate of sulfosuccinic acid ester surfactants

The relationship between the rate of biodegradation of 10 sulfosuccinic acid derivatives by a bacterial consortium and the physicochemical parameters was elucidated by principal component analysis followed by modified nonlinear mapping technique. It was established that the hydrophobicity parameters determined in the presence of ions and the bulkiness of the surfactant molecule exert a considerable impact on the biodegradation rate. Nonlinear mapping technique using the absolute values of principal component loadings explains more precisely the relationship than the common nonlinear mapping does.