Modeling, processing and optimization of highly-filled polymer wood fiber composites
Biocomposites are a critical ingredient in the context of overarching societal efforts to increase the use of renewable materials. Therefore, the use of polymer with natural fiber reinforcements is expected to increase significantly. A current drive for polymer biocomposites is to maximize the use of renewable content in mass production systems. However, the full potential […]
SISTERS
KTH is taking part in the EU funded Horizon 2020 project SISTERS. SISTERS aims to reduce food loss and food waste in the main different stages of the Food Value Chain in Europe through innovations targeted to each link of the value chain: new tools to primary producers for promoting direct and Short Chain sales […]
Characterisation and effects of micro- and nanoscale components and their impact on efficiency of chemical additives
The project’s focus is on developing a methodology that will provide new knowledge and processcontrol capabilities concerning nano- and microscale fibrillar wood-pulp material in thepapermaking process.
The kinetics of lignin extraction in oxygen delignification.
The current and future environmental challenges call for improved and more sustainable processes in the pulp industry. To contribute to a sustainable and competitive Swedish bioeconomy the pulp industry needs to increase efficiency without increasing the use of hazardous chemicals. Oxygen delignification is a unit process that has been used in pulp mill fiberlines between […]
BioUPGRADE – Biocatalytic upgrading of natural biopolymers for reassembly as multipurpose materials
BioUPGRADE unites expertise in functional genomics and material science to deliver breakthrough biotechnologies that sustainably upgrade nature’s main structural biopolymers into high-value and multipurpose materials.Living organisms drive our planetary carbon cycle via biocatalysts that transform CO2 into an enormous array of diverse and functional molecules. A significant fraction of this carbon is transformed into structural […]
Functional lignin nanomaterials
This is a umbrella theme of research carried out in Sustainable Materials Chemistry (SUSMATCHEM) research group in Stockholm University. We aim to make most out of lignin with minimal processing and chemical modification according to the principles of green chemistry. In addition to fundamental studies of structure and properties of lignin and lignin nanoparticles, we […]
Multi scale modeling of the delignification kinetics during kraft cooking
The kraft process is today the dominant industrial technology for the production of pulp from wood.In this process, wood chips are boiled with chemicals in order to dissolve lignin, hemicellulose andextractives. The process itself contains several complex mass transport mechanisms, where thechemicals are to be transported into the wood chip and then further into the […]
Plasticization and partial depolymerization of lignocellulose-based materials
This project is a part of the competence center FibRe. This particular PhD student project aims to plasticize the lignin in the cell walls. The first part will be to extract lignin from wood and wheat straw, and to evaluate how different plasticizers affect the material properties. This will then be extrapolated to lignocellulose-based fibers.
A new bio-based wood adhesive
One of the obstacles to easy recycling of wood composites is the thermosetting adhesives used in their production. Increasing the recyclability of composites could be achieved by developing bio-based bonding materials that will decompose under specific conditions. Bio-based adhesives such as those based on starch and microfibrillated cellulose have been demonstrated to form strong bonds […]
Enhancing the stability of biomass-processing enzymes
We are investigating the basis of (thermo)stability in bacterial biomass-processing enzymes, and will use this information to engineer stability into enzymes of interest in the wood biorefinery.
Design for Circularity: Lignocellulosic based Thermoplastics – FibRe
Global warming is one of the largest threats ever to our planet which can completely alter our living conditions. Human contributions to emissions of green-house gases must decrease, and a drastically decreased use of fossil resources is a key step to achieve this. Daunting 320 million tons of plastics are annually produced in the world, […]
Simulation and modelling of wood-based advanced functional materials
In this project we perform multi-scale theoretical modelling of wood-based materials and devices ranging from the Molecular Dynamics and ab initio simulations on the atomistic level to the drift-diffusion device simulation on the system level to answer the fundamental questions concerning material structure, morphology, polymerization, porosity, ion diffusion, role of water, solvents and many others, […]
