Potential of Lignin and Glycol Lignin

Abstract

Lignin is known as an important cell wall component, contributing to the rigidity and strength of the tree. The utilization of lignin as industrial material has been highly expected due to its essential properties as aromatic polymer. An acid-catalyzed solvolysis of softwood in glycols, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), was applied to produce functional lignin derivatives (Glycol Lignin: GL). GL showed excellent workability to be utilized for high performance polymeric materials. We developed many kinds of GL based industrial products such as carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) using GL-based matrix resin, GL based heat resistant engineering plastics, and a variety of high-performance GL based phenolic resins.