title: Lignin-Based Thermoplastic Materials.
abstract: Lignin-based thermoplastic materials have attracted increasing interest as sustainable, cost-effective, and biodegradable alternatives for petroleum-based thermoplastics. As an amorphous thermoplastic material, lignin has a relatively high glass-transition temperature and also undergoes radical-induced self-condensation at high temperatures, which limits its thermal processability. Additionally, lignin-based materials are usually brittle and exhibit poor mechanical properties. To improve the thermoplasticity and mechanical properties of technical lignin, polymers or plasticizers are usually integrated with lignin by blending or chemical modification. This Review attempts to cover the reported approaches towards the development of lignin-based thermoplastic materials on the basis of published information. Approaches reviewed include plasticization, blending with miscible polymers, and chemical modifications by esterification, etherification, polymer grafting, and copolymerization. Those lignin-based thermoplastic materials are expected to show applications as engineering plastics, polymeric foams, thermoplastic elastomers, and carbon-fiber precursors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.|H.B. Fuller Company, 1200 Willow Lake Blvd, St. Paul, MN, 55110, USA.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA. richard_venditti@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Venditti
mesh_terms: D008031:Lignin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010969:Plastics / Q000138:chemical synthesis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D008031:Lignin
keywords: amorphous materials; lignins; plasticization; polymers; thermoplastic elastomers