*Article* **Lignin: A Biopolymer from Forestry Biomass for Biocomposites and 3D Printing**

**Mihaela Tanase-Opedal 1, Eduardo Espinosa 2, Alejandro Rodríguez 2 and Gary Chinga-Carrasco 1,\***

1 RISE PFI, Høgskoleringen 6b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway; mihaela.tanase@rise-pfi.no

2 Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Science, Universidad de Córdoba, Building Marie-Curie, CampusdeRabanales,14014Córdoba,Spain;eduardo.espinosa@uco.es(E.E.);a.rodriguez@uco.es(A.R.)

 **\*** Correspondence: gary.chinga.carrasco@rise-pfi.no

Received: 8 August 2019; Accepted: 12 September 2019; Published: 16 September 2019

**Abstract:** Biopolymers from forestry biomass are promising for the sustainable development of new biobased materials. As such, lignin and fiber-based biocomposites are plausible renewable alternatives to petrochemical-based products. In this study, we have obtained lignin from Spruce biomass through a soda pulping process. The lignin was used for manufacturing biocomposite filaments containing 20% and 40% lignin and using polylactic acid (PLA) as matrix material. Dogbones for mechanical testing were 3D printed by fused deposition modelling. The lignin and the corresponding biocomposites were characterized in detail, including thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), di fferential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray di ffraction analysis (XRD), antioxidant capacity, mechanical properties, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Although lignin led to a reduction of the tensile strength and modulus, the reduction could be counteracted to some extent by adjusting the 3D printing temperature. The results showed that lignin acted as a nucleating agen<sup>t</sup> and thus led to further crystallization of PLA. The radical scavenging activity of the biocomposites increased to roughly 50% antioxidant potential/cm2, for the biocomposite containing 40 wt % lignin. The results demonstrate the potential of lignin as a component in biocomposite materials, which we show are adequate for 3D printing operations.

**Keywords:** lignin; polylactic acid (PLA); 3D printing; biocomposites; biopolymers
