<br/>Spherical lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) fabricated via nanoprecipitation of dissolved lignin are among the most attractive biomass-derived nanomaterials. Despite various studies exploring new application opportunities for LNPs, little is known regarding the formation mechanism of LNPs and the effect of different solvent systems on their intrinsic properties. In this study, we investigated the solvency effect on the particle size and uniformity of LNPs that were prepared from softwood Kraft lignin (SKL) using the binary solvents of aqueous acetone and aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) via nanoprecipitation and by employing molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. Additionally, the internal morphology, porosity and mechanical properties of the LNPs were analyzed with electron tomography (ET), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) respectively. Acetone-water resulted in smaller LNPs with higher uniformity compared to THF-water, ascribing to stronger interaction between acetone and SKL compared to that of THF and SKL among other reasons. Moreover, it was found that both LNPs were compact and non-porous solid particles with rather homogenous density distributions throughout the individual particles, and with Young’s moduli in the order of 2 GPa. Overall, our results provide fundamental understanding of the solvency effect on the formation and the intrinsic properties of LNPs that are essential for design of LNPs with optimal performance in applications.

Solvency effect on the formation and properties of spherical lignin nanoparticles

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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