TY  - EJOU
AU  - Ojala, Antti 
AU  - Wikström, Lisa 
AU  - Nättinen, Kalle 
AU  - Lehmonen, Jani 
AU  - Kinnunen-Raudaskoski, Karita 

TI  - Foam-Laid Thermoplastic Composites Based on Kraft Lignin  and Softwood Pulp
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2014
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - 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.
KW  - Foam-laid technology
KW  -  thermoplastic lignin
KW  -  Biocomposite
KW  -  kraft pulp

DO  - 10.7569/JRM.2014.634126