Kohlhuber Nadine, Sulaeva Irina, Zou Tao, Musl Oliver, Mildner Robert, Renneckar Scott, Österberg Monika, Rosenau Thomas, Potthast Antje
Institute of Chemistry of Renewable Resources, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Konrad-Lorenz-Strasse 24, 3430, Tulln an der Donau, Austria.
Core Facility "Analysis of Lignocellulosics" (ALICE), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Konrad-Lorenz-Strasse 24, 3430, Tulln and der Donau, Austria.
ChemSusChem. 2025 Jun 2;18(11):e202500329. doi: 10.1002/cssc.202500329. Epub 2025 Mar 20.
The unique properties of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) - uniform shape, surface charge and nanoscale - carry great potential for the desired material utilization of technical lignins. Especially, the particle size distribution and dispersity of LNPs are the key for their successful valorization. However, characterization of LNPs usually requires a rather elaborate combination of light scattering and microscopy techniques which moreover provide only average values, are often limited in sampling size and require tedious sample preparation. Here we introduce a method based on asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) coupled with multi angle laser light scattering (MALLS), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and refractive index (RI) detection for the analysis of size and shape of LNPs. Exploiting the separation power of AF4 in combination with MALLS, DLS, and RI allowed us to obtain enhanced particle size distributions of LNP that are comparable to batch DLS and AFM measurements. Moreover, we discuss the influence of the particle size on the MALLS and DLS signals and determination of the shape factor ρ of LNPs.
木质素纳米颗粒(LNPs)具有独特的性质——形状均匀、表面电荷和纳米尺度——在技术木质素的理想材料利用方面具有巨大潜力。特别是,LNPs的粒径分布和分散性是其成功增值的关键。然而,LNPs的表征通常需要光散射和显微镜技术的相当精细的组合,而且这些技术只能提供平均值,采样尺寸往往有限,并且需要繁琐的样品制备。在此,我们介绍一种基于不对称流场-流分级(AF4)结合多角度激光光散射(MALLS)、动态光散射(DLS)和折射率(RI)检测的方法,用于分析LNPs的尺寸和形状。利用AF4与MALLS、DLS和RI相结合的分离能力,我们能够获得与批量DLS和原子力显微镜(AFM)测量相当的LNPs增强粒径分布。此外,我们还讨论了粒径对MALLS和DLS信号的影响以及LNPs形状因子ρ的测定。