Method of forming colloidal lignin particles, comprising the step of dissolving lignin in a mixture of organic solvents, feeding of the said solution into water, and forming acolloidal dispersion of lignin. The used solvents are recovered with methods such as distillation and reused in the process. Water is removed from the colloidal dispersion by ultrafiltration and reused in the process. The concentrated colloidal dispersion is dried by spray drying. The invention can be used in applications where the colloidal nature of lignin will afford an advantage over bulk lignin.

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a dispersion in which a substance, which is poorly soluble in a dispersion medium, is dispersed with a particle size of a nano-order level. More particularly, the method includes: preparing a solution containing a good solvent and the poorly soluble substance and the surfactant dissolved in the good solvent; rapidly cooling the solution to a temperature at which the poorly soluble substance precipitates in the solution at a temperature lowering rate of 100 to 4,000° C./second to produce ultrafine particles with a particle size of a nano-order level formed of the poorly soluble substance in the good solvent; and (i) separating the good solvent from a mixed solution of the solution and the dispersion medium after mixing the solution and the dispersion medium, or (ii) mixing the dispersion medium to the solution after separating the good solvent from the solution.

The present invention relates to a nano-diamond dispersion solution and a method of preparing the same. The method of preparing a nano-diamond dispersion solution comprises the following steps: providing a nano-diamond aggregation; mixing the nano-diamond aggregation with a metal hydroxide solution and stirring the mixture such that the nano-diamond aggregation is separated, to obtain a mixture solution; stabilizing the mixture solution such that the mixture solution is separated into a supernatant and precipitates; and extracting the supernatant and precipitates.

The invention relates to a process for the obtainment of suspended double-flat SU-8 Janus chips by means of SU-8 photolithography to create an arrangement of ordered SU-8 chips on a substrate and soft lithography to create a planar printed arrangement or a planar printed array on each chip, said process comprising steps for forming a solidified membrane that is peeled off and dissolved in an aqueous medium. Furthermore, the invention relates to the suspended double-flat SU-8 Janus chips and to a suspended array comprises at least two different suspended double-flat SU-8 Janus chips. Lastly, the invention relates to barcoding chips and to sensing devices comprising said suspended double-flat SU-8 Janus chips or said suspended array.

The disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a colloidal dispersion of Kraft lignin (KL) nanoparticles, said method comprising the steps of (a) providing KL; (b) dissolving said KL into a solvent, to obtain a solution having a concentration of Kraft lignin of at least 15 mg/ml; and (c) mixing said solution with an antisolvent under mixing conditions, to provide a colloidal dispersion of nanoparticles. Said method is remarkable in that the solvent used in step (b) of dissolving said KL is one or more organic solvents, and in that step (c) of mixing is performed by the addition of the solution of step (b) into an antisolvent being or comprising water. The disclosure also relates to spherical KL nanoparticles with an average diameter size ranging from 9 nm up to 70 nm. The disclosure further relates to various uses of said spherical KL nanoparticle.

A method comprising providing a sol comprising a solvent; contacting the sol with a precipitation initiator to initiate precipitation of the sol, wherein the precipitation initiator is different to the solvent; and applying the precipitating sol to a product. The methods of the invention may be used with sols comprising a solvent, a metal alkoxide, and optionally a biopolymer and/or a catalyst, with alkoxides comprising metals, organically modified alkoxides comprising metals, alkoxides comprising metalloids, and organically modified alkoxides comprising metalloids all being encompassed by the term ‘metal alkoxide’. Also disclosed is an apparatus for use in the method comprising a first storage vessel; a second storage vessel; one or more pumps; and one or more delivery means.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon-containing colloids or composite colloids have a silicon-containing shell which surrounds the hollow colloids or composite colloids. The colloids have a spherical geometry. The silicon-containing composite colloids have a spherical geometry and a diameter of between 2 nm and 7 nm in scanning electron micrographs, and the silicon-containing colloids have a spherical geometry with a cavity and a diameter of between 50 and 200 nm in scanning transmission electron micrographs. The cavity is surrounded by a shell with a thickness of between 3 and 10 nm.

Method of forming colloidal lignin particles, comprising the step of dissolving lignin in a mixture of organic solvents, feeding of the said solution into water, and forming acolloidal dispersion of lignin. The used solvents are recovered with methods such as distillation and reused in the process. Water is removed from the colloidal dispersion by ultrafiltration and reused in the process. The concentrated colloidal dispersion is dried by spray drying. The invention can be used in applications where the colloidal nature of lignin will afford an advantage over bulk lignin.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon-containing colloids or composite colloids have a silicon-containing shell which surrounds the hollow colloids or composite colloids. The colloids have a spherical geometry. The silicon-containing composite colloids have a spherical geometry and a diameter of between 2 nm and 7 nm in scanning electron micrographs, and the silicon-containing colloids have a spherical geometry with a cavity and a diameter of between 50 and 200 nm in scanning transmission electron micrographs. The cavity is surrounded by a shell with a thickness of between 3 and 10 nm.

A feedback system that identifies characteristics of a colloid and utilizes the characteristics to initiate and adjust a field applied to the colloid is provided. In one embodiment, the system leverages machine learning to automatically identify a condition of the colloid and adjust the supercooling parameters. Sensors are utilized during supercooling to monitor a condition of the colloid being supercooled. Specifically, characteristics of the colloid are measured at different points, areas, or volumes on the colloid and the measurements are used to determine whether supercooling is being achieved or whether the colloid is starting to freeze or undergoing another undesirable phase change. Based on the measurements, parameters of the field can be adjusted to ensure supercooling of the colloid without freezing or causing another undesirable phase change. When phase change is desired, rate of phase change can be controlled to achieve desired characteristics of the colloid.