The project LignoLight is a joint project of three institutes, five funded and three associated industry partners. The project is coordinated by Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research in Braunschweig (Fraunhofer WKI). The main objective of the project is the development and processing of lignin-based materials such as thermoplastic lignin compounds, lignin foams, and lignin leather imitations and their use in recyclable and modular lightweight furniture. The focus is on long-term CO2 binding in the materials through the lignin itself, but also due to an extended material service life resulting from a modular construction approach. In addition, there are lightweight construction concepts through the use of lignin foams as core materials.
As part of project the results of workpage 3, 4 and 8 related to “the processing of thermoplastic lignin compounds and life cycle assessment (LCA)” will be presented. These are the main tasks of the University of Applied Sciences in Bingen (TH Bingen). As part of work package 3 "Material development", different lignin compounds were analyzed and examined regarding their mechanical properties and processability.
Various lignin compounds with variable lignin contents were examined with regard to their processability. Various biopolyesters like PLA, PBS, PBAT as well as Bio-PE, Bio-PA or cellulose derivatives were used as thermoplastic matrices. These polymers were mixed with Kraft lignins, hydroylsis lignins, organsolv lignins or mixtures thereof. The amount of lignins in the compounds was varied between 0 and 50 wt. %.