Open Access

ARTICLE

Foam-Laid Thermoplastic Composites Based on Kraft Lignin and Softwood Pulp

Antti Ojala^1,*, Lisa Wikström¹, Kalle Nättinen², Jani Lehmonen³, Karita Kinnunen-Raudaskoski⁴

1 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Sinitaival 6, FI33720 Tampere, Finland
2 Bemis Valkeakoski Oy, Teollisuustie 1, FI37601 Valkeakoski, Finland
3 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Koivurannantie 1, FI40101 Jyväskylä, Finland
4 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Tekniikantie 2, FI02150 Espoo, Finland

* Corresponding Author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2014, 2(4), 278-284. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2014.634126

Received 29 August 2014; Accepted 17 November 2014;

Abstract

This article presents a new method of producing thermomoldable nonwoven materials based on kraft lignin (KL) and softwood kraft pulp (KP). A mixture of starch acetate (SA) and triethyl citrate (TEC) was used as a water insoluble plasticizer for KL. The thermoplastic lignin (TPL) material with the optimized ratio of KL, SA and TEC was prepared in a twin-screw extruder. The TPL compound was ground and mixed with KP fi bers to produce thermoformable sheets using foam-laid technology. The formed webs were compression molded (CM) into plates and mechanically tested. The foam-laid composites had tensile strengths and modulus of 67 MPa and 5.2 GPa, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the dispersion of the fi bers and the matrix in the composites. As a comparison, injection molded (IM) TPL-KP composites were also prepared.

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Keywords

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