Abstract Smart and environmentally responsive surfactants are increasingly being explored as sustainable alternatives to conventional oil spill dispersants, which often suffer from ecotoxicity and limited performance under variable marine conditions. In this study, twelve non‐ionic surfactants, including fatty acid amides (A1–A5), ethoxylates (E1–E4), and amide–ethoxylate condensates (C1–C3), were synthesized from renewable feedstocks and systematically evaluated to establish structure–property–performance relationships. Characterization was performed using Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis, and molecular weight determination. Interfacial behaviour was assessed through surface tension isotherms, critical micelle concentration (CMC), and Griffin's hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) method. A qualitative frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis was employed as a conceptual framework to rationalize headgroup hydration and interfacial adsorption trends. The results demonstrate that controlled ethoxylation and optimized hydrophobic chain length significantly enhance dispersion efficiency. Among the investigated surfactants, E2 (POE 600 monolaurate) and C2 (POE 600 monolaurate/myristic acid) exhibited superior performance, achieving high surface activity, low CMC (0.67–0.49 × 10 −3 mol L −1 ), and effective oil‐in‐water emulsification compared to their shorter‐chain analogues. These findings highlight that tailored molecular design of amide–ethoxylate hybrids provides a robust pathway for developing high‐performance, environmentally friendly dispersants for marine oil spill remediation.
Thanaa Abdel‐Moghny (Sun,) studied this question.