Kraft lignin can be blended with traditional thermoplastic materials, but this can lead to well-known embrittlement. The esterification of hydroxyl groups in kraft lignin with fatty acids can significantly improve their compatibility with aliphatic polyesters by the promotion of secondary interactions. However, this route has two problems:1) the traditional non-green approach of derivatization causes environmental issues; and 2) blending the lignin derivatives above the 25 - 40% level leads to significant phase separation that severely impacts mechanical properties. Understanding the structure-property relationship for this type of material is vital to solving this problem. However, it is challenging because of the unknown physicochemical properties of kraft lignin and how they change during heating. In this study, we adopt a one-pot process to obtain a highly uniform esterified kraft lignin with a well-characterized structure. The greener esterification route was selected to modify the hydroxyethyl kraft lignin in a one-pot process with a 90% degree of substitution. A simple downward fractionation method was further used to obtain five fully esterified lignin fractions with specific absolute molar mass, well-characterized thermal properties. We anticipate these uniform esterified lignin fractions with well-characterized structures can greatly aid in the preparation of lignin-polymer blends materials providing insight into structure-property relationships.

3-ingredient, 2-step, 1-pot process to obtain uniform esterified lignin derivatives

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.