I've written previously on the structure of lignin and the structure of water. Both of these were required for us to learn how to make lignin spheres. There are still a couple more tricks up our sleeves to make our products, which we understandably do not wish to reveal.
However, what I can reveal is why regular lignin can be a hassle to deal with. The first thing is that regular lignin is not at all soluble in water. Nor is it dispersible, which is to say that regular lignin particles are so large that they sediment rapidly in water. And when they are not dispersible in water, they behave very poorly in any application one would wish to use them.
The major reason for this is that the lignin tube has hydrophobic ends. When lye is added to lignin, the tubes become repellent enough that are separated from each other. In the LignoBoost process the lignin molecules are neutralized, causing the hydrophobic end to randomly attach to each other, a bit like forming a chain with BRIO trains. If there is no means to control this chaining phenomenon and what you get is a fractal aggregate that has rather unpredictable properties.
What we do at LignoSphere is to ensure that the lignin tubes stack together in a highly controlled manner to form waterman polyhedra in the interstitial spaces of quantized water. This results in a very desirable topological phenomenon, where all of the hydrophobic ends of the lignin nanotubules close in on themselves in a nice tight spherical package.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, it's impossible to see this self-assembly in properly prepared spheres, but if the self-assembly is disrupted immediately after it begins, it is possible to see the pattern of self-assembly.
Here, it is crucial to understand that the nanotubular nature of lignin is a necessary, but not sufficient, explanation for the self-assembly. If there was no available space within water for the self-assembly to occur, what would be expected would be something more akin to nanowhiskers.
Much of the process understandably has to remain secret for now, as LignoSphere has been founded to commercialize the process. However, it is good for everyone to understand what is behind green nanotechnology. If one wishes to make high end products with biomaterials and in water, it is necessary to understand what working within these confines actually mean.
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