Project information
Project manager
Stergios Adamopoulos
Other project members
Sheikh Ali Ahmed, Reza Hosseinpourpia and Wen Jiang, Linnaeus University; Holger Militz, University of Göttingen, Germany
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University; University of Göttingen, Germany
Financier
Södra's research foundation
Timetable
1 Okt 2019–30 Sept 2022
Subject
Forestry and wood technology (Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Faculty of Technology)
More about the project
Environmental concerns and commitment to sustainable development are increasing substantially, leading to investments in the forest-based industries towards the replacement of fossil carbon sources by renewable raw materials. Hence, it is desirable to obtain more sustainable routes for the production of polyurethane (PUR) structural adhesives, with the use of renewable sources as a precursor of this polymer type. Besides vegetable oils, which have been extensively applied as natural sources of polyol for PURs, liquefied biomass and lignin are promising alternative sources of polyol for PUR adhesives.
This project will establish the necessary parameters (e g diisocyanate NCO groups/hydroxyl OH levels) for effective synthesis of bio-based PUR adhesives with superior properties and bonding strength. This approach supports adhesive development using technical kraft lignin and liquefied bark as natural renewable polyols instead of synthetic ones, thus allowing the reuse of these industrial by-products and wastes that are available in large quantities. The new PUR adhesives will be applied in three-layer cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing, with the aim to define the technical conditions, requirements concerning construction materials and costs for scaling-up the most promising ones.
Staff
