High shear homogenization of lignin to nanolignin and thermal stability of nanolignin-polyvinyl alcohol blends

Sandeep S. Nair, Sudhir Sharma, Yunqiao Pu, Qining Sun, Shaobo Pan, J. Y. Zhu, Yulin Deng, Art J. Ragauskas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

238 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new method to prepare nanolignin using a simple high shear homogenizer is presented. The kraft lignin particles with a broad distribution ranging from large micron- to nano-sized particles were completely homogenized to nanolignin particles with sizes less than 100 nm after 4 h of mechanical shearing. The 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and 31P NMR analysis showed that there were no major changes in the chemical composition between the starting kraft lignin particles and the nanolignin obtained after 4 h of mechanical treatment. The nanolignin particles did not show any change in molecular weight distribution and polydispersity compared to the original lignin particles. The nanolignin particles when used with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) increased the thermal stability of nanolignin/PVA blends more effectively compared to the original lignin/PVA blends.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3513-3520
Number of pages8
JournalChemSusChem
Volume7
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biomass
  • Composites
  • Lignin
  • Nanoparticles
  • Thermal stability

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