Room: Poster Area
Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Time: 09:00 - 10:00 CEST
Session code 6BV.2
Biomass conversion into bio-based chemicals and high-value compounds (part 1)
Suberinic Acids from Birch Outer Bark as a Renewable Feedstock for Polyurethane Polyols: Influence of Depolymerization Conditions on Structure and Reactivity
Short Introductive summary
Suberinic acids obtained from birch outer bark (BOB) represent a promising renewable feedstock for the production of bio based polyols suitable for polyurethane applications. However, the structure and reactivity of suberinic acids mixtures (SAM) depend strongly on depolymerization conditions, reagent type, and moisture content. In this study, BOB was depolymerized using KOH, NaOH, and KOH followed by FeCl? precipitation to remove phenolic components. SAM samples were characterized using GC FID, GC MS, GPC, FTIR, and subsequently converted into polyols via oxyalkylation with propylene carbonate. The results show that FeCl? treated SAM contained the highest triterpene content and produced polyols with the highest hydroxyl values (435 mg KOH/g). NaOH derived SAM yielded the lowest viscosity polyols (5361 mPa·s) with balanced functionality, while KOH derived SAM produced highly viscous polyols due to the presence of long chain oxidized fatty acids and associative oligomers. Moisture was found to be a critical parameter: undried SAM (~18% water) caused uncontrolled reaction acceleration and catalyst deactivation during oxyalkylation, demonstrating the necessity of SAM drying
Presenter
Janis RIZIKOVS
Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Biorefinery Laboratory, LATVIA
Presenter's biography
Research area is related to extraction and chemical processing technologies to obtain high value-added products from biomass: betulin, suberinic acids, biocomposites. Pretreatment, hydrolysis, carbonization, pyrolysis and activated carbon.
Biographies and Short introductive summaries are supplied directly by presenters and are published here unedited
Co-authors:
A. Paze, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA
R. Berzins, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA
K. Liepins, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA
D. Godina, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA
D.L. Eihe, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, LATVIA
A. Abolins, SIA Ritols, Riga, LATVIA
Session reference: 6BV.2.30