Fig. 1.

CLP formation using solvent switching based on the polarity difference of the chemicals. Steps 1–3 tiny CLP (ca. 30 nm) formation including clustering of the particles via self-assembling. Step 4 tiny CLPs colliding with each other forming large aggregates. Step 5 formation of stable spherical nanosized lignin particles (ca. 200 nm) having smooth polar surface and hydrophobic core. Step 6 AFM image of the single CLPs, one hollow particle is collapsed. Steps 7 and 8 TEM images showing growing of the CLPs (Sipponen et al. 2018b; Mattinen et al. 2018a; Qian et al. 2014)