Indiana company partners with Purdue University to create sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based adhesives and coatings
MERRILLVILLE, IN – December 04, 2025 – FiberX, Inc., a sustainable materials company transforming agricultural residue into high-performance industrial products, announced today it has been awarded a fourth Innovation Voucher award from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. The $50,000 project will conduct groundbreaking research into lignin-based epoxy resins, marking a significant milestone in the company’s evolution from technology development to commercial product creation.
The six-month research project, conducted in partnership with Purdue University’s Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, represents a major advancement in developing sustainable alternatives to conventional petroleum-based epoxies used in coatings, adhesives, and composite materials.
“This fourth Innovation Voucher Award validates the progress we’ve made and opens an exciting new chapter for FiberX,” said Dave Skibinski, CEO of FiberX. “Our previous awards helped us advance our core biorefinery technology from early research stages to proven processes. Now we’re ready to turn that platform into revolutionary products that can compete head-to-head with petroleum-based materials.”
From Process to Products
While FiberX’s earlier Innovation Voucher projects focused on developing and scaling its lignin extraction technology—advancing it from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to 5—this latest award shifts the focus squarely onto product development. The research will produce two distinct innovations:
- First-of-its-kind RCF lignin-based epoxies: High-performance resins synthesized from FiberX’s reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) process, designed to match or exceed the mechanical, thermal, and adhesive properties of petroleum-based alternatives.
- Pioneering bio-based epoxy systems: Fully renewable formulations that could achieve up to 80% bio-based content by pairing lignin-derived resins with plant-sourced curing agents.
The research will be led by Professors Enrico Martinez and James M. Caruthers at Purdue’s Forney Hall laboratories, building on existing intellectual property developed through the university partnership.
Real-World Applications, Real Impact
The lignin-based epoxies under development target multiple high-value markets, including:
- Automotive and construction: Durable, heat-resistant coatings and adhesives
- Medical devices: Biocompatible materials for drug delivery and tissue engineering
- Industrial manufacturing: Sustainable alternatives to BPA-based epoxies currently facing increasing regulatory pressure
“These aren’t niche products,” explained Wade Lange, FiberX’s Chief Commercial Officer. “We’re developing drop-in replacements for materials used across major industries. The difference is ours come from corn field residues instead of oil refineries, and they’re designed from the ground up to meet real performance requirements, not just check a sustainability box. We are extremely thankful to our IEDC and Advance Research Institute partners for their confidence.”
Leveraging Indiana’s Agricultural Strength
The research builds directly on FiberX’s core mission of converting corn stover—the stalks, leaves, and cobs left after harvest—into valuable industrial materials. Indiana’s position as the nation’s fifth-largest corn producer provides abundant feedstock for the company’s operations.
“Indiana has always been about making things,” Skibinski noted. “This project combines our agricultural heritage with cutting-edge chemical engineering to create a new industry with first-in-class products.. We’ve built a supply chain combined with sustainable manufacturing processes to valorize corn stover into feedstocks for advanced manufacturing.”
Project Timeline and Funding
The Innovation Voucher provides $25,000 in matching funds, with FiberX contributing an additional $25,000 to support the research. Work is scheduled to begin November 1, 2025, with completion targeted for April 30, 2026. The project will produce comprehensive technical reports, characterization data, and potential intellectual property filings.
Results from the research will inform FiberX’s commercial strategy for entering the $285 billion global specialty chemicals market, which includes resins, coatings, and adhesives.
About FiberX
FiberX upcycles corn stover, the world’s largest agricultural by-product, into novel chemical product feedstocks significantly reducing or eliminating the use of petrochemicals. FiberX has automated processing of corn stover into microfibers that have been combined with synthetic and bio- plastic polymers to make bio-composite plastics. These same fibers can be used as a feedstock for making paper products. Using technology developed at Purdue University, FiberX extracts and depolymerizes lignin, creating tunable lignin that can be used as a sustainable and novel feedstock for industrial resins, coatings and adhesives.
##
