LigniCoat®

LigniCoat® is obtained by modifying lignin with vegetable fatty acids and can be delivered in liquid form as an oil or as an emulsion containing water, which improves its affinity for paper fibers. The result is a water-barrier coating layer, protecting the substrate against water and water vapour (see our Coatings project).

Produced in a one-step reaction that does not require high pressures or temperatures above 200°C, LigniCoat® is then applied on the substrate using common coating techniques.

LigniCoat® is set to compete against fossil polymers that are very widely used in paper coatings (EVOH, PS, PET, PE, AKD coatings), while focusing on non-food applications at the moment. The competitive advantage of LigniCoat® is then its potential to lead to fully bio-based paper and board products, which is currently out of reach when so many coating layers made of fossil-based compounds are required to provide all the necessary surface functionalities. Another resulting advantage of LigniCoat® is the opportunity to provide multiple functionalities in a single layer, besides hydrophobicity, given the many intrinsic properties of lignin (UV-absorption, antioxidant, etc.).