Announcing the Extraordinary SpruceLigno™ Soft Grade
Lignin’s typical brown color, unpleasant smell, and poor dispersibility have kept lignin from applications for decades. So, we made our move.
After a swift but determined period of development work, Boreal Bioproducts is happy to announce a new lignin grade that solves the above challenges. SpruceLigno™ Soft is light in color, easy to disperse in water, smells like spruce, is sulfur-free, absorbs UV light, and is antioxidant. In addition, it participates well in emulsions and is a better film-former than typical lignins on the market. What more could anyone ask?
Many organizations strive today to be circular. However, for us at Boreal Bioproducts circularity is everything. “From side stream to mainstream” is more than a slogan, it is the core of our business and what we offer to the world. Side streams are usually associated with waste streams, but this is seldom the case. Companies have become quite good at effectively using their material streams. Biomass streams that are challenging to use for value-adding products are usually incinerated for energy which is always a valuable resource. We nevertheless aim to make sure all materials are used to the fullest before they re-enter the carbon cycle. Therefore, we like every other company that works with biomaterials need to make sure we maximize the value that we get out of our sawdust. This is where we come to lignin.
Lignin’s role has started to shift in the forestry and pulp and paper industries. Traditionally, it has primarily been incinerated but it has more to offer. If lignin would be sold as an actual product like cellulose, the chemical forest industry could likely withstand fluctuations in biomass prices and increase its overall profitability. The challenges related to lignin production vary from plant to plant but there is one thing all plants and forest valorizers, including us, have in common; lignin needs to be useful.
Our standard lignin grade SpruceLigno™ is more useful than many lignins. It is sulfur-free, smells nice, less rigid than more condensed forms, and is sustainably sourced. However, like almost all other lignins, its drawbacks are holding its benefits back. SpruceLigno™ is an amphiphilic solid that is challenging to incorporate into water-based applications. It is brown which tends to limit its applicability. The combination of these characteristics has made it difficult to find applications for lignin, despite the R&D efforts made by universities and companies around the world across the decades.
Introducing SpruceLigno™ Soft
Since the start of 2024, we have put efforts to solve these issues. In January, we started a development project aiming at making our lignin finer and dispersing more easily in water-based systems. After a successful scale-up of our newly developed softening treatment, we can proudly announce the fruit of our labor. Our novel SpruceLigno™ Soft is lignin in its best form. It is a fine powder that is easy to disperse in water and it is much lighter in color than most lignins. Yet, it absorbs ultraviolet light and retains its antioxidant properties and its original pleasant smell of spruce. It participates well in emulsions and is easy to incorporate in water-based solutions and dispersions. To summarize, a pleasant smell, a light beige color, antioxidant properties, and UV absorption. Could you ask for more from lignin?
We are proud of our work, but we know there is still more to be done. There are other properties that lignin need to perform well in certain technical applications. While water-dispersibility and brighter color may be enough for many, we will continue to cater for the ones who need more. Stay tuned for our updates!