Kraft Lignin Solubility in Deep Eutectic Solvents

Lignin stands as a promising raw material to produce commodities and specialty chemicals, yet its poor solubility remains a big challenge. Recently, deep eutectic solvents (DES) have been proposed as sustainable solvents with high potential to dissolve and valorize lignin. In the present study, the ability of DES based on cholinium chloride (ChCl) combined with alcohols and carboxylic acids as hydrogen bond donors to dissolve kraft lignin is examined. The main goal is to get insights on the importance of the water content on the solubility of kraft lignin in DES. Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) will be applied to unravel the DES-water-lignin interactions at a molecular level.