Polymers from Renewable Lignin Feedstocks

The depletion of fossil fuels has led to the utilization of a variety of renewable feedstocks in chemistry. Thus a sustainable way towards fuels, chemicals and other materials is under investigation. One particular interesting feedstock is lignin that is a polyphenol usually found in plants and constitutes around 30% of the non-fossil organic carbon. At the moment most of the lignin ‑ a byproduct of paper production ‑ is wasted and used as fuel. We utilize hydro/solvothermal treated lignocellulosic biomass in the formation of polymeric/oligomeric materials. We aim for novel biobased surfactants and various polymer materials, e.g. poly carbonates, poly esters or poly acrylates.