There is a need for renewable resources as a raw material for commodity polymers. Lignin is one of the most important natural biopolymers from renewable resources due to its sufficient supply, robust material properties and the fact that its use does not compete with the food supply. Lignin has been investigated since the late 19th century, but its applications are limited due to poor processability, low reactivity and intrinsic heterogeneity depending on the plant source and isolation methods used. Current strategies for using lignin in modern materials center on integrating it with other natural or synthetic polymers. This review article introduces the technological importance of lignin and focuses on copolymers and blends based on lignin in a broad range of applications.
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September 2013
Review Article|
September 01 2013
Chemistry of lignin-based materials Available to Purchase
Hoyong Chung, PhD;
Hoyong Chung, PhD
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
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Newell R. Washburn, PhD
Newell R. Washburn, PhD
*
Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
*Corresponding author e-mail address: washburn@andrew.cmu.edu
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*Corresponding author e-mail address: washburn@andrew.cmu.edu
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Received:
September 28 2012
Accepted:
November 15 2012
Online ISSN: 2049-1239
Print ISSN: 2049-1220
ICE Publishing: All rights reserved
2013
Green Materials (2013) 1 (3): 137–160.
Article history
Received:
September 28 2012
Accepted:
November 15 2012
Citation
Chung H, Washburn NR (2013), "Chemistry of lignin-based materials". Green Materials, Vol. 1 No. 3 pp. 137–160, doi: https://doi.org/10.1680/gmat.12.00009
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