Different softwood lignin O‐acyl derivatives, i.e., methacrylated, hexanoylated, benzoylated, methoxybenzoylated, and cinnamoylated lignin are synthesized and subjected to melt spinning. In the presence of spinning aids such as vanillin and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, multifilament melt spinning is accomplished with spinning speeds up to 500 m min−1, which allowed for realizing uniform precursor fibers 17 μm in diameter. Out of all acyl‐derivatives of softwood lignin investigated, cinnamoylated softwood lignin (CL) turned out to be superior in terms of processability. CL‐derived precursor fibers are oxidatively thermostabilized and then carbonized applying carbonization temperatures up to 2200 °C. Carbon fiber structure formation is followed in detail by wide‐angle X‐ray scattering and Raman spectroscopy. An orientation ≤53% and a d 002 spacing of 0.353 nm is achieved. According to small angle X‐ray scattering, carbon fibers have a porosity of ≈38%. CL‐derived carbon fibers are also characterized in terms of mechanical properties. Tensile strengths up to 0.93 GPa (average 0.75 GPa) are obtained and follow Weibull statistics. Elastic moduli are ≤66.5 GPa (average 41.1 GPa).

We describe the wet and dry-wet spinning of multifilament cellulosic composite fibers, namely chitin/cellulose fibers. The direct solution process for the two biopolymers based on an ionic liquid as solvent represents an environmentally friendly and alternative technology to the industrially applied viscose and lyocell process. Both cellulose and chitin possess good solubility in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium propionate ([C 2 C 1 Im][OPr]) and were spun into multifilament composite fibers. Moreover, for the first time, pure chitin multifilament fibers were obtained by dry-wet spinning. The effect of chitin addition on the filament properties was investigated and evaluated by microscopic, spectroscopic, and mechanical analyses.

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