Project goal
To develop a method for extraction and characterization of components from technical lignins, which can be used as monomers in polymerization reactions.
Background
Wood consists of about 30% lignin. During kraft pulping the lignin is to a large extent dissolved into the cooking liquor. Today this so-called kraft lignin is considered a highly interesting raw material for development of bio-based materials and chemicals. The isolation of lignin from the cooking liquor yields a material with a broad range of molar masses and properties. The isolated lignins comprise a large portion of compounds of low molecular mass which, if properly isolated, could be useful building blocks in repolymerization.
The use of organic polymers is ubiquitous in the modern world, and predominantly relies on fossil resources. Thus, there is a dire need for alternative solutions from biobased materials. Integrating isolated lignin in polymer production could be one such solution, towards which isolation and identification of the compounds in the kraft lignins is a first step. In this work isolation and characterization of low molecular weight components from selected kraft lignin samples will be studied, and the isolated compounds will be investigated as monomers for polymerization.
Activities
• Brief literature study
• Isolation and separation of lignin followed by characterization by NMR and MS-techniques
• Derivatization and polymerization of the isolated compounds
• Report writing • Project presentations
Supervisors
Jerk Rönnols, RISE Bioeconomy; jerk.ronnols@ri.se, 08-676 71 24
Anna Jacobs, RISE Bioeconomy; anna.jacobs@ri.se, 08-676 71 52