Polysaccharide and lignin chemistry

Biobased polymers for your application!

We modify the physical, chemical, or biological properties of natural polymers through tailored chemical modification. For example, we make them more thermally processable, more soluble, more dispersible or optimize their morphology for special applications.

The resulting derivatives can be used both in mass products such as building materials, detergents, or paper, as well as in highly refined specialty products. Special derivatives serve as carrier materials for enzymes and active ingredients in medicine, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals, among others.

What would you like to optimize?

What raw materials do we use?

The development of products from natural raw materials such as wood, cotton and annual plants or also residual biomass such as crab shells, beet pulp, straw, bagasse and black liquor is a focus of research activities in the area of polysaccharide and lignin chemistry.

We modify natural polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, starch, chitosan, chitin, hyaluronic acid, pectin and tannin to adapt their properties for a wide range of applications.

How are functionalities set?

In order to tailor the functionality of polysaccharides and lignins, we offer a wide range of physical and chemical modifications and combinations thereof. The chemical conversion is carried out with appropriate reagents to produce hydrophilic, hydrophobic, ionic, or non-ionic polymers.

We carry out the syntheses under industry-oriented heterogeneous or homogeneous process conditions. Esterification, etherification, oxidation and graft polymerization of the polymer chains are used to adjust the degree of substitution within the monomer units and along the molecular chains to tailor the properties of the corresponding derivative.