Valorization of agricultural residues to composites through circular fractionation

We intend to develop a new composite material by fractionating and applying green chemistry to agricultural residues.

The material will be unique as it is possible to reverse the assembly through stimuli-response chemistry so that the material can be repaired and recycled in a controlled manner. This also makes it possible to change the function of the material during its life cycle.

We have developed a new FRACTIONATION method where we use a derivative of the hemicellulose from the biomass, as a reagent for the fractionation of the lignocellulose.

The hemicellulose will be condensed and reduced to the derivative and used as reagent in the fractionation where a covalent bond to the lignin will be made and this detaches it from cellulose and hemicellulose. The lignin with the bond to the derivative has unique properties and can be further FUNCTIONALIZED.

Thus, no reagents are needed apart from the appled function itself. Once lignin is functionalized, it will be ASSEMBLED with the cellulose fiber to create the new composite material. Both the chemistry used in the functionalization and in the assembly are stimuli-response driven.

By this it is possible to DIS-ASSEMBLE the composite, repair the material/function and also change the function during its life cycle.

The methods that will be used are based on green and sustainable chemistry, focusing on non-toxic reagents and mild reaction conditions. SUSTAINABILITY will be evaluated by LCA through multiple iterations.