By exposing the lignin in the pulp to daylight, a photocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide takes place inside the pulp process.

– This could mean a real simplification of the manufacturing process for bleached paper. You simply skip the step of adding hydrogen peroxide from the outside. Instead, the mass is exposed to light, explains Eric Glowacki, senior lecturer at the Laboratory for Organic Electronics (LOE) at Linköping University.

The discovery of the reaction has been made by doctoral student Eva Miglbauer, as part of her doctoral project at LOE.

Now you can read an article about the research at bioinnovation.se (in Swedish).