New Insight into Industrial Lignin Intermolecular Force Heterogeneity Mitigation: Monodispersed Lignin Colloidal...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomass Valorization
• Colloidal Chemistry

Background:

• Industrial lignin, a byproduct of pulping, is underutilized due to its inherent heterogeneity.
• Lignin colloidal spheres (LCSs) offer potential for advanced biomass photonic materials due to biocompatibility.
• Existing methods yield LCSs with broad size distributions, limiting their application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for producing monodispersed LCSs from industrial lignin.
• To improve the size control of LCSs for advanced material applications.
• To investigate the effect of functionalization on lignin properties and LCS characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Selective functionalization of phenolic and aliphatic hydroxyl groups in industrial lignin to form ester groups.
• Synthesis of LCSs from functionalized lignin.
• Characterization using simulation analysis and atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Main Results:

• Functionalization significantly decreased the size distribution of LCSs, achieving a monodispersing degree.
• Simulation revealed decreased lignin polarity and narrowed C-O linkage electron cloud distribution after functionalization.
• AFM confirmed a reduced force distribution index (FDI) from 0.38 to 0.11, correlating with a lower LCS polymer dispersity index (PDI) from 0.182 to 0.05.

Conclusions:

• Selective functionalization is an effective strategy to overcome lignin heterogeneity and achieve monodispersed LCSs.
• The developed method enables precise control over LCS particle size, crucial for tunable photonic materials.
• Monodispersed LCSs are suitable for preparing advanced biomass photonic materials with adjustable optical properties.