Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology

The Korean Society of Wood Science & Technology (한국목재공학회)
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Effect of Ethanol Fractionation of Lignin on the Physicochemical Properties of Lignin-Based Polyurethane Film

  • Sungwook WON (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Junsik BANG (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Sang-Woo PARK (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Jungkyu KIM (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Minjung JUNG (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Seungoh JUNG (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Heecheol YUN (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Hwanmyeong YEO (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • In-Gyu CHOI (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Hyo Won KWAK (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Seoul National University)
  • Received : 2023.12.29
  • Accepted : 2024.02.19
  • Published : 2024.05.25
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Abstract

Lignin, a prominent constituent of woody biomass, is abundant in nature, cost-effective, and contains various functional groups, including hydroxyl groups. Owing to these characteristics, they have the potential to replace petroleum-based polyols in the polyurethane industry, offering a solution to environmental problems linked to resource depletion and CO2 emissions. However, the structural complexity and low reactivity of lignin present challenges for its direct application in polyurethane materials. In this study, Kraft lignin (KL), a representative technical lignin, was fractionated with ethanol, an eco-friendly solvent, and mixed with conventional polyols in varying proportions to produce polyurethane films. The results of ethanol fractionation showed that the polydispersity of ethanol-soluble lignin (ESL) decreased from 3.71 to 2.72 and the hydroxyl content of ESL increased from 4.20 mmol/g to 5.49 mmol/g. Consequently, the polyurethane prepared by adding ESL was superior to the KL-based film, exhibiting improved miscibility with petrochemical-based polyols and reactivity with isocyanate groups. Consequently, the films using ESL as the polyol exhibited reduced shrinkage and a more uniform structure. Optical microscope and scanning electron microscope observations confirmed that lignin aggregation was lower in polyurethane with ESL than in that with KL. When the hydrophobicity of the samples was measured using the water contact angle, the addition of ESL resulted in higher hydrophobicity. In addition, as the amount of ESL added increased, an increase of 7.4% in the residual char was observed, and a 4.04% increase in Tmax the thermal stability of the produced polyurethane was effectively improved.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was carried out with the support of the 'R&D Program for Forest Science Technology (2020224 D10-2222-AC02)' provided by the Korea Forest Service (Korea Forestry Promotion Institute). This study was carried out with the support of the 'R&D Program for Forest Science Technology (2020215B10-2222-AC01)' provided by the Korea Forest Service (Korea Forestry Promotion Institute).

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