LIGNICOAT (compound word made of lignin + coating) is a CBE-JU funded project which wants to demonstrate technical and economic feasibility of the use of lignin as raw material to produce of bioresins for different applications in the field of functional coatings (varnishes, paints, etc.).
What is lignin? Lignin is like the glue inside plants, providing support and protection. It is nature’s second most abundant organic polymer by mass, exceeded only by cellulose. It is made up of various phenolic compounds and it is an underutilized product with a high potential to provide not only economic returns, but also environmental benefits. LIGNICOAT provides new synthetic routes to obtain bioresins “à la carte” based on lignin intermediates for application in coatings and validated in an industrial relevant environment.
The target is not only to increase the biobased content and ensure performance, but also take advantage of lignin specific characteristics to develop bioadditives (enzymes, sugars and other natural polymers), increasing the overall biocontent and providing features such as anticorrosive, fireproof and antimicrobial activities.
