Effect of ball milling on lignin polyesterification with e-caprolactone

Industrially produced lignins are by-products of the pulp and paper industry and depending on the source and pulping technology they have deviating functional groups, solubility behavior and reactivity. In the present paper, kraft lignin was pretreated by mechanical milling and polyesterified with epsilon-caprolactone to create hydroxyl groups that are more easily available for further reactions. The products obtained were analysed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and functional group determination. The analytical data are presented as a function of reaction time, crosslinking reactions and the amount of epsilon-caprolactone input.