DI Nadine Kohlhuber´s study “Adding Speed to Lignin Analysis Straight from Black Liquors”, published in the ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, was awarded the Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Research Award 2024 (Category: Pulping Process), which “recognizes outstanding scientific works having a potentially significant positive effect on the future of the pulp and paper industry”.
Her study presents a fast and straight-forward analytical tool to determine two important parameters (i.e., lignin content and molar mass distributions)—needed for the successful economic exploitation of technical lignins—within a single size-exclusion chromatography measurement straight from black liquors. This “quick and dirty” approach of analyzing black liquors without prior purification allowed to reduce total analysis time from several hours to 30 min including sample preparation.
The Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Research Award 2024 in the category “Pulping Process” was awarded on Wednesday, May 15th, by Mag. Sebastian Heinzel, during the annual Paper & Biorefinery Conference in Graz, Austria.