LIgnofact - High performance surfactants from lignin

LIgnofact - 来自木质素的高性能表面活性剂

• 批准号: 10027463
• 金额: $ 44.25万
• 依托单位: UNILEVER U.K. CENTRAL RESOURCES LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10027463
• 关键词: LIgnofact; performance; surfactants; lignin

Surfactants are chemicals with both hydrophilic (water loving) and hydrophobic (water hating) regions, which makes them extremely useful for mixing oils and water, stabilising foams and removing dirt from surfaces and laundry. As a result, surfactants are used across a broad array of industrial sectors and products, including laundry detergents and cleaning, personal care (shampoos, hand and body wash liquids), plant protection, in paints and coatings and as emulsifiers in pharmaceuticals. Most of the surfactants available today are substantially derived from fossil carbon. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve Net Zero by 2050 (UK Net Zero Strategy), the use of fossil carbon needs to be avoided. Biobased surfactants could be an alternative but those that are currently available have limited functionality and are typically 3 to 5 times more expensive that fossil-based surfactants. However, customers and consumers are demanding sustainable biobased ingredients and there is a real need now for highly functional, biobased surfactants for applications such as laundry detergents.This project will demonstrate the potential for novel biobased surfactants, based on lignin from woody biomass, to replace fossil-derived surfactants. First, the lignin will be extracted from the biomass. Then it will be depolymerised into its constituent subunits and finally it will be converted to a surfactant through addition of an oily hydrophobe. The properties of the resultant surfactant and its potential for use in laundry detergents will be explored. The success of our project, Lignofact, will strengthen the UK renewables economy and deliver not only an exciting new surfactant but highly trained experts in biomass use to help drive the research in renewable carbon and sustainable biomass in UK industry.

表面活性剂是具有亲水性（喜水）和疏水性（憎水）区域的化学品，这使得它们在混合油和水，稳定泡沫以及去除表面和衣物上的污垢方面非常有用。因此，表面活性剂被广泛用于工业部门和产品，包括洗衣洗涤剂和清洁剂、个人护理（洗发水、洗手液和沐浴液）、植物保护、油漆和涂料以及药品中的乳化剂。目前可用的大多数表面活性剂基本上来源于化石碳。为了减少温室气体排放并到2050年实现净零排放（英国净零战略），需要避免使用化石碳。生物基表面活性剂可能是一种替代品，但目前可用的那些具有有限的功能，并且通常比化石基表面活性剂贵3至5倍。然而，客户和消费者要求可持续的生物基成分，现在有一个真实的需要高功能，生物基表面活性剂的应用，如洗衣粉。该项目将展示新的生物基表面活性剂的潜力，基于木质生物质的木质素，以取代化石衍生的表面活性剂。首先，将从生物质中提取木质素。然后它将解聚成其组成亚基，最后通过添加油性疏水物将其转化为表面活性剂。将探讨所得表面活性剂的性质及其在洗衣剂中的应用潜力。我们的项目的成功，Lessfact，将加强英国可再生能源经济，不仅提供一个令人兴奋的新的表面活性剂，但在生物质利用训练有素的专家，以帮助推动英国工业可再生碳和可持续生物质的研究。