Wastewater

Introduction of foreign industrially produced organic (e.g., fatty acids and protein) and inorganic material (e.g., heavy metals) to water resources has become a global concern. In addition, the municipal waste effluents contain considerable concentrations of drugs and pharmaceutical products as well as detergents and dye pigments. We have generated lignin-based flocculants with superior functionality. Not only these products reduce the load of chemical use for cleaning wastewater effluent (and thus they produce less secondary sludge), but also they are biobased and generally reduce the use of synthetic oil based products in water resources. In addition, the resultant sludge would contain lignin, which may have potential usage in the production of fertilizers and/ or animal feed mixtures.

Construction

Fluidity of concrete admixtures significantly impacts the workability of the concrete admixture in construction sites, especially in cold climate countries. Water reducers (also known as plasticizers) are extensively used in the construction industry to increase the fluidity of concrete admixtures or reducing the water content of cement pastes. Thanks to the superior properties of our lignin-based products, they have shown promising results in dispersing cement particles and improve cement admixtures’ workability.

Mining and oil sands

Mining industry plays an essential role on the overall economy of Canada. Mining processes involved many chemicals in their thickeners, flotation processes and waste pond management. Although a verity of chemicals is used in this industry, there are primarily oil based and sometime inefficient. We have generated altered lignin based chemicals for different operations of the mining processes. Our preliminary investigation has shown great advantages of these chemicals over the currently used ones in the industry. These chemicals may be used stand-alone or in combination with other chemicals for improved performance.

Pulping Industry

We are producing value-added water-soluble lignin-based products from various industrially produced and lab made lignin. Our outstanding achievements in valorizing lignin will make it possible to investigate and hopefully replace a whole class of essential commercial petrochemicals with lignin-based alternatives. Our patented technologies can be readily adopted and well integrated into existing technologies of the pulping industry, which facilitate the commercialization of functional lignin derivatives. The commercialization of lignin based value-added products will eventually increase the mill’s revenues and will represent a major step towards converting any pulp mills to biorefinery complexes.

Agriculture and food packaging

Fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides are extensively used in agriculture. The gradual and continuous supply of these chemicals is essential for the grow of industrial crops. These chemicals are generally not environmentally friendly or wildlife friendly. Water supply of crop fields is a major concern worldwide. Interestingly, our lignin-based products can be used in the formulation of these chemicals in industry. The use of lignin-based products can be a strategy to introduce biobased chemicals to the agriculture sector with tremendous environmental and wildlife benefits.

Cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses

The design of drug delivery system has been the focus of research in recent years. In cosmetic products, the rheological properties of products are keys in identifying appropriate applications. With their unique physicochemical features, our lignin-based products have shown some advantages over currently applied ones in these applications.  

Textiles

Paint industry

Paint and stain are vastly used in household and manufacturing facilities for decoration and protection. As solvent based paint products are phasing out from the market, the need for water-based formulation is enhanced dramatically. Our lignin-based products could be used for imposing various functionality to paint products. The natural aspect and great functionality of our lignin-based products make them great candidates for paint and stain products.