Fully Bio-Based Thermoplastic
Lignin Composites
22.5.2013
Biomaterials - Towards Industrial Applications
Kalle Nttinen, Antti Ojala, Lisa Wikstrm,
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
223/05/2013
Content
VTT and plastics processing
Materials
Processing
Results
Conclusions
323/05/2013
Customer sectors
Biotechnology, pharma-ceutical and food industries
Chemical industry and environment
Electronics Energy Forest industry ICT Machine, vehicle and metal
industries
Real estate and construction
Services and logistics
Focus areas of research
Applied materials Bio- and chemical
processes
Energy Information and
communication
technologies
Industrial systems management
Microtechnologies and electronics
Services and the built environment
Business research
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423/05/2013
Plastics processing
Micro-scale melt processing
Small Scale Processing
Pilot Scale Processing
Injection Molding
Extrusion
Pre- and Post-processing
Collin(30 x 25D) blown film extruderInjection mouldingThermo-Haake MiniLab
Micro Compounder
523/05/2013
Thermoplastic lignin compositesMaterials
Lignin: Softwood kraft lignin from Metso (LignoBoost)
Plasticizers: Starch acetate (Ac-starch) and triethyl citrate (TEC)
Fiber: Softwood TMP
623/05/2013
Melt processable starch acetate
Effect of acetylation
reduces hygroscopicity
improves thermal processability by lowering Tg
Plasticisation with triethyl citrate (TEC)
Iower Tg
improves ductility
Tensile performance1
1K. Nttinen et al., Polym Comp., 2010.
723/05/2013
Processing stepsWood fiber reinforced thermoplastic lignin composites
Cellulose
fibers
Extraction
of lignin Plasticization
Compounding
with fibers
Injection molding
LigninPlasticized
lignin
Pellets
823/05/2013
Thermoplastic lignin compositesProcessing steps in laboratory scale
Injection molding(Thermo-Haake Mini-
Jet)
Plasticization and melt
compounding (Brabender Plasti-Corder50 cm3 batch)
Tensile testing(Instron 4505)
923/05/2013
Thermoplastic lignin compositesProcessing steps in pilot scale
Twin-screw extruder
Berstorff ZE 25 x 48 D
High-speed twin-screw extruder
KrausMaffei Berstorff Ze25A x 49D UTX
Compounding
Engel ES 200/50 HL
Instron 4505
Injection molding
Tensile testing
Advanced
materials
1223/05/2013
Contents of the thermoplastic lignin composites
0 50 100
Content / wt%
SW ligninAc-starchTEC
30-60% 15-30% 10-20% 0-40%
1523/05/2013
Ac-starch/TEC plasticised lignin compositesEffect of TMP fiber content
Fixed lignin/Ac-starch/TEC ratios
2,5
3,5
4,5
5,5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
You
ng'
s m
od
ulu
s /
GP
a
Ten
sile
str
en
gth
/ M
Pa
TMP fibre / wt-%
0 50 100
Content / wt%
SW lignin
Ac-starch
TEC
TMP
1623/05/2013
Effect of processing on TMP fiber lengths
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy 23.5.20131 FiberLab, R. Korpela, bo Akademie University, 2013. 2 X-ray computed microtomography, A. Miettinen, M. Kataja, University of Jyvskyl, 2012.
1 9801
1562
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Native TMP fiber Lignin composite (20% TMP)
Me
an f
ibe
rle
ngt
h /
m
1723/05/2013
Fiber-matrix compatibilityTensile fracture surfaces of Ac-starch/TEC
plasticised composites (SEM)
Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy 23.5.2013
Good compatibility Uniform dispersion of fibers
1823/05/2013
Thermoplastic lignin compositesAc-starch/TEC vs PEG plasticisation
30 wt% TMP fiber content Optimised lignin / plasticiser ratios
30 29
4,8 5,9
0,6 0,51,7
4,2
Ac-starch/TEC PEG
Tensile Strength (MPa)
Young's modulus (GPa)
Strain at break (%)
Impact Strenght (kJ/m2)
1923/05/2013
Water absorption of thermoplastic lignin compositesAc-starch/TEC vs PEG
20 wt% TMP reinforcement PEG dissolves from the composites
0
10
20
30
40
50
0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5
We
igh
t ch
ange
/ %
Time / weeks
Ac-starch/TECPEG
2023/05/2013
Property PP +
Wood1Lignin + PEG +
TMP
Lignin + starch
acetate + TMP
Tensile strength
(MPa)
37 29 30
Stiffness (GPa) 3.0 6.5 5.4
Impact strength
(kJ/m2)
15 4.4 2.01Ichazo et al., Compos. Struct., 2001
Comparison:
40% Wood fibers + PP
vs
30% TMP + lignin + starch acetate + TEC
vs
30% TMP + lignin + PEG
2123/05/2013
FuBio JR2 23.5.2013
Evaluation of TECNAROsthermoplastic lignin composites
Arboforms consist ofthermoplastic lignin, natural additives and fibres (flax, hemp etc.)
Odour of the composites: F45: typical ZE50: low V3: very low
Application areas: Automotive interiors Electronics Consumer articles Furniture industry etc
Composition of FUMO 74: Ac-lignin 41% Ac-starch 23% TEC 16% TMP 20%
The pic and the tensile properties are extracted from the web page:
http://www.tecnaro.de/english/willkommen.htm?section=we
18
29
61 60
33
6,3 4,96,7
3,65,3
0,3 0,7 1,34,8
0,72,05,0
8,5
15,0
2,6
Arboform F45 Arboform ZE50 Arboform L, V3 PLA 3051D FUMO74
Tensile strength (MPa) Modulus (GPA)
2223/05/2013
Conclusions
Thermoplastic lignin composites based on fully renewable materials have been
fabricated
Kraft lignin can be efficiently plasticisedwith Ac-starch-TEC mixtures
TMP fiber loading improves processability and mechanical performance of the
composites
Composites are very rigid yet brittle
PEG improves ductility of the lignin composites
Heavy breakage of TMP fibers during processing of the composites
Northern lights in Tampere, Finland (17.3.2013)
2323/05/2013
Acknowledgements
Funding from TEKES and Finnish bioeconomy cluster (FIBIC)
within FuBio Joint Research 2 (FuBio JR2) project
2423/05/2013
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