Philip Verdross, received the Heinzel-Mondi-Sapi Research award for his publication "Black liquor-based epoxy resin: Thermosets from untreated kraft lignin" in the Chemical Engineering Journal (CEJ), which was part of his PhD.

This award "recognizes outstanding scientific work having a potentially significant positive effect on the future of the pulp and paper industry".

Lignin is currently mainly used as a fuel. Philip Verdross was able to demonstrate a promising way of upcycling this biomaterial by producing thermosetting resins from lignin. A black liquor-based epoxy resin (black liquor-based epoxy resin, BLER) was produced from raw kraft black liquor. BLER, a liquid resin, can then be further processed into black liquor-based thermosets using standard moulding processes and maleic anhydride as a hardener. These black liquor-based thermosets can, for example, be used to produce composite materials.
 

Philip Verdross, MSc is currently at the Department of Materials Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry, where he is working on his dissertation under the supervision of Prof. Alexander Bismarck and Ass. Prof. Robert T. Woodward.
 
The Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Research Award 2024 in the "Resource Efficiency" category was presented by DI Leo Arpa on Wednesday, 15th May 2024, at the annual Paper & Biorefinery Conference in Graz, Austria.