Sub-micro and nano-lignin materials: Small size and rapid progress

• Published in: Industrial crops and products 2021-06, Vol.164, p.113412, Article 113412
• Main Authors: Deng, Jia, Sun, Shao-Fei, Zhu, En-Qing, Yang, Jing, Yang, Hai-Yan, Wang, Da-Wei, Ma, Ming-Guo, Shi, Zheng-Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Lignin; Nano; Rapid progress; Small size; Sub-micro
• ISSN: 0926-6690; 1872-633X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113412

•The current developments of sub-micro and nano-lignin materials were presented.•The synthetic routes between sub-micro and nano- lignin materials were summarized.•The future trend toward micro- and nanostructured lignin-based materials is suggested.•The sub-micro and nano- lignin materials displays broad prospects for development in the near future. Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer and the main source of aromatic structures on the earth. As a by-product of cellulose in the paper pulp production, lignin has rather low added-value applications. Sub-micro and nano- lignin materials maybe open promising high added-value applications. These new fields have brought about renewed interest for lignin. In this paper, the current developments of sub-micro and nano-lignin materials were reviewed. The synthetic routes between sub-micro and nano- lignin materials were summarized. All the different shapes, microstructures, and properties of these sub-micro and nano- lignin materials were compared with that of conventional lignin. The future trend toward micro- and nanostructured lignin-based materials is also suggested. It is expected that the small size of sub-micro and nano-lignin materials displays great progress, which are promising applications of various fields in the near future.