Nanostructure of technical biobased filaments
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 399 000 |
| Project duration | May 2020 - May 2022 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Research infrastructure - utilisation and collaboration |
| Call | Increasing PhD students' competence in neutron- and synchroton-based analysis methods in industry - spring 2020 |
| End-of-project report | 2020-00831_RISE-PhD Jenny Bengtsson .pdf (pdf, 269 kB) |
Important results from the project
The purpose was to understand how the structures of lignin/cellulose filaments are created during spinning by analyzing individual filaments via scattering and diffraction methods at synchrotron facilities. Filaments were studied both at P03 (Petra III, Germany), CoSAXS (MAX IV) and i08 (Diamond Light Source, U) by academic beam time. We were able to perform both structural analysis in 3D (tomography), X-ray microscopy over cross-section and measurements on samples during drying. A significant increase in competence for the doctoral student and supervisor in these techniques has also been achieved.
Expected long term effects
The project involves using forest-based raw materials to produce biobased carbon fibers, which is of great interest to Swedish industry. In the now finalized doctoral project, filaments of lignin and cellulose have been spun and converted to carbon fibers with promising results. The high resolution of the analytical techniques available in this project will enable more detailed characterization of structural variations in the filaments, which will lead to possibilities to increase the mechanical properties of the carbon fibers further.
Approach and implementation
In the project, the doctoral student and supervisor (employees at Fiberutveckling at RISE) collaborated with synchrotron experts at RISE Innventia and MAX IV. The doctoral student has received help with analyzing data and has received both theoretical and practical training in X-ray scattering and diffraction. After the project, the doctoral student will be able to use synchrotron-based methods to analyze bio-based fibers and technical filaments and plan more advanced experiments, e.g. in-situ analysis of fiber spinning. The results will be published in scientific journals.