The important role of lignin can be understood from the interesting properties of the natural composite, wood. Lignin, which has a cross-linked phenyl propane skeleton containing some active sites as well as an aromatic stable structure having a potential of providing dynamic compatibility with polyethylene terepthalate (PET), is a low-cost chemical constituent material available in large quantities as a waste from pulp and paper industries.On account of these properties as well as biodegradability, conventional inert filler materials such as mica or metal oxides may be replaced by alkali lignin to produce a material with better thermal characteristics, exploring a new way of utilizing lignin. These objectives have been studied through the non-isothermal crystallization behavior of purified alkali lignin-filled PET blends with varying compositions. Analysis by DSC and TGA showed the modification in a nucleation process, the steady acceleration of the crystallization process with increasing lignin proportion. Besides significant decrease in the glass transition temperature, decreasing melting temperature with increasing lignin concentration should account for the processibility of PET at lower temperature.
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