Sophorolipids (SLs), a class of microbially derived biosurfactants, are reported by different research groups to have different self-assembled structures (either micelles or giant ribbons) under the same conditions. Here we explore the reasons behind these contradictory results and attribute these differences to the role of specific congeners that are present in minute quantities. We show that a sample composed of a majority of oleic acid (C18:1) sophorolipid in the presence of only 0.
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