Technology Overview
Lignoxy™, a lignin-based polymer technology.
Lignoxy™ is a lignin-based polymer technology for the replacement of petroleum-based polymer. Lignin is an abundant natural organic biomaterial, which is extracted from the wood. The technology produces lignin-based Epoxy, polyurethane and polyester polymers.
The basic concept of ITRI’s lignin-based polymer (LBP) technology is using lignin as the role of a monomer in the polymerization process, is. ITRI’s LBP can be used as can coating material or a substitute to other epoxy resins, which can reduce the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging and plastic products. In addition, it can also be used alternatively for polyurethane foams or polyester. The substitution of LBP for BPA polymer is expected to mitigate the problem of residual environmental exogenous hormone in a polymeric substance.
Applications & Benefits
The following chart illustrates the applications of tin can coating, food packaging, metal coating and lignin based EPOXY/PU. Used for tin can coating, the testing results show excellent mechanical performance meeting the requirements for a food container such as adhesion, hardness, solvent resistance, sulfur stain resistance, etc.