Michele Ponzelli – LIGNICOAT (Axia Innovation)
The innovative lignin-based resins and coatings developed from the LIGNICOAT project aim to address environmental concerns associated with fossil-based coatings and reduce VOCs’ emissions. In recent months, the team members have made significant progress in developing bio-coating formulations and testing them against fire, corrosion, and antimicrobial properties.
Here some advancements in the development of some members:
– In the last period, Tecnalia, the project coordinator and leader of the work package (WP) on biocoatings formulation, along with IRIS, have made progress on the development and application of clear fire retardant biocoatings for wood protection, including bio-resins and lignin. Fire performance testing by cone calorimeter tests is being carried out in the company. Additionally, the company has been progressing in the development and application of antimicrobial/antiviral bio-coatings for metal substrates including bio-resin and WP3 bio-additives (thymol and hop soft resins). Samples have been sent to NORCE for antiviral tests and ITACyL for antibacterial tests.
– VITO is advancing on two fronts. First, they have continued working on optimizing process conditions (e.g., fresh vs. recycled methanol) for continuous depolymerization of the hydrolysis lignin. Such a process will then be upscaled at the LignoValue pilot plant. Second, VITO performed a proof-of-concept study on balancing lignin content and hardener influence on the crosslink density of biobased epoxy resin coatings.
– IRIS Coatings is also actively involved in the development of coatings, including bio-resins and flame-retardant products. Their work has been mainly focused on developing formulations for intumescentand flame-retardant coatings for wood applications.
– NORCE, leader of the WP on bio-additives for coatings, has recently received some bio coatings on both wood and metal from Foresa Technologies and Tecnalia and performed antiviral tests according to ISO 21702. Preliminary results show a significant reduction in viral particles for the different antivirals tested.
– Barpimo, leader of the WP on bio-resins based on lignin, has recently focused on improving the formulation of bio-coatings in terms of visible impurities and humidity tests. Their tests were carried out on the fractionated lignin received from VTT; the next steps will also include the high molecular weight lignin from VITO.
Solvent-borne intumescent bio-coatings applied on a metal substrate. The LIGNICOAT bio-coatings reached an expansion ratio of up to 46 times. A good expansion ratio (i.e., around 50 x) is crucial for creating an insulating barrier and protecting structures or materials from fire damage.
– During the last period, Arditec kept collecting data for environmental, economic, and social assessments. As all the steps concerning the lignin intermediates and bio-based resins were previously assessed, the company is currently considering the first formulations of the coatings.
The first results are already available for some coati-
ngs; they will be refined with more accurate data in the coming months. In parallel, the company is working on Deliverable 5.3.
Preliminary report of SLCA of coating solutions. The final results for the three studies will be gathered in the last report in September 2024.
“The LIGNICOAT project has received funding from the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101023342. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Bio-based Industries Consortium”.
