Bisphenol-based epoxies are a class of high-performance polymer materials which when cured yield thermosets with high mechanical, thermal and chemical resistance properties. North America roughly produces around 123 billion pounds of these epoxies which are used in a wide range of industrial applications like coatings, composites structural parts, automotive, electronics, construction etc. These epoxies are mainly manufactured from bisphenol-A and epichlorohydrin. Both these chemicals are acutely toxic and carcinogenic. During the life cycle of these different products in various applications, roughly around 1 million pound of BPA is released into the environment. Some of the biobased epoxies from natural resources employ allyl bromide instead of epichlorohydrin to make epoxies which is still acutely toxic and carcinogenic. Some vegetable oil-based epoxies do employ green methods to their synthesis.   However, these epoxies are from non-aromatic source and hence have poor mechanical and thermal properties. In this work lignin from biomass is chosen as a suitable sustainable replacement for these toxic chemicals in manufacturing of bio-based epoxies through a non-toxic route. The use of lignin has the advantage of targeting high performance epoxy applications. Industrially available lignin is less reactive and undergoes extensive condensation due to harsh pulping conditions. In this work a unique method is devised to extract and functionalize lignin in one step to synthesize the lignin epoxy precursors directly from biomass without using toxic chemicals. Organic and non-toxic reagents are used to extract and functionalize lignin with unsaturated bonds. These unsaturated bonds serve as reaction sites for the introduction of epoxy groups on the lignin structure through reaction with peroxy acids in a non-toxic way. For the first time, lignin is simultaneously extracted and prepared to create epoxy precursors in one step.

Lignin as a bio-polymer for sustainable plastics development

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.