ILI Umbrella Programme

What's New

Online Newsletter

All Protocols reviewed and updated

ILI FORUM 9, Stockholm March 24/25, 2011

End Ecobinders project

Home

Since 2002, the thematic network EUROLIGNIN financed by the European Union, has been analysing existing and new research approaches in the lignin field. This network has brought about the creation of the umbrella programme within ILI, which includes analytical work, application research and further synergistic activities with other projects, for example in the field of biorefineries. Further results of the research carried out in some of the projects being part of the ILI umbrella programme will be presented at the Stockholm Forum.

The mission of this umbrella programme is:
	to promote exchanges between virtually all existing lignin projects. This goal is realized through official information exchange channels like newsletters, press releases, and publications, as well as through work on common themes such as analytical methods, solubility, toxicity, life cycle studies etc.
	to improve the quality of new research proposals by encouraging exchanges between potential partners, collecting information to identify the most promising new research approaches and, last but not least, facilitating the emergence of new stakeholders in the lignin field.

Lignin research will face a major challenge in the next 5 to 10 years, which is to develop its budgets to a degree that corresponds, at least partially, to its importance in nature and to the importance of its technological potential.

To reach this target, the lignin field will have to move from traditional and ad hoc research, based on a few teams, mostly with wood and paper background, to a more modern highly interactional network, involving many interdisciplinary research teams based on material sciences and life sciences.

Successful implementation of such scenario will request:
	great involvement in high added value topics, like nanosciences, smart polymers and topic related to life sciences;
	the skillful integration of lignin research into biorefinery and bioenergy concepts;
	creation of a new basic science for lignin with better defined lignins through improved separation, purification and functionalisation technologies, as well as a better understanding of lignins through the progress made in their analytical tools;
	a dramatic reduction of the average time of penetration for new research results into the scientific network.

EU Projects	Partners from the following EU projects, financed by the European Commission, are part of the informal umbrella programme. They will benefit from work and information exchange at the ILI umbrella, and they will participate in the dissemination of selected information to the umbrella management or partners therein.

National Projects	The following projects financed by national research funds are part of the informal network of the ILI umbrella programme. They either coordinate some selected aspects of their work with the ILI umbrella or exchange selected information with the umbrella management or partners therein.

EUROLIGNIN	Coordination network for lignin standardisation, production and applications adapted to market requirements

Analytical Cluster	ILI has developped an analytical cluster including the main analytical parameters for lignin. More than 20 different lignins have been analysed.

Size Exclusion Chromatography	The latest news about the ongoing work in the GPC/SEC working group of ILI.

Norms and Standards	Informations about development of Norms and Standards in ILI. Updated latest versions of protocols. Development work on molar mass and functional groups