Lignin

The development of new lignin-based materials has become a very attractive alternative for researchers due to the particular properties that these can offer and their potential applications. Lignin is biosourced, abundant, biodegradable and renewable, for those reasons, it is an appealing feedstock from which to make materials for diverse applications in diverse fields. Lignin-based nanoparticles may offer properties and morphologies that differ from those of more conventional materials.

Kraft lignin is a major industrial by-product of the pulp and paper industry, currently used primarily as low-value fuel. There are economic and environmental incentives to utilize kraft lignin for materials applications, however, its compositional variability and chemical complexity remains a major barrier to commercial use. Colloidal lignin particles (CLPs) have emerged as a promising strategy for reducing the heterogeneity of technical lignins by generating spherical particles with narrow size distribution.