| Abstract: | Number-average molecular weights and the thermodynamic parameters ΔF?1, ΔH?1, and ΔS?1 have been obtained for lignin in the solvents dimethylsulfoxide, dimethyl-formamide, and dioxane. Widely different molecular weights were found in the different solvents and at the different temperatures as a consequences of molecular association. Analysis of the thermodynamic parameters revealed that these quantities are dominated by the change in solvent structure accompanying the solution process. A correlation between the “goodness” of a lignin solvent and the Hildebrand solubility parameter is consequently misleading in such systems. |
