An alternate strategy would be to modify LNPs in colloidal state. However, as mentioned earlier the solvent-instability of LNPs make it impossible to use many common modification techniques that have been used extensively since the discovery of nanoscience. In fact, the vast majority of covalent functionalizations that can be readily used in solution state cannot be conducted in aqueous dispersions due to the predominant side reactions such as hydrolysis during esterification. Meanwhile, LNPs have been directly modified in colloidal state by hydrothermal processing, polymer adsorption and internal crosslinking. For instance, Zou et al. crosslinked LNPs using bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, giving rise to stabilized nanoparticles after dispersion state curing. However, these crosslinking methods rely on reactions that consume the phenolic hydroxyl groups, which have a central role in defining the properties of LNPs as described above. Meanwhile, lignin hydroxymethylation can be used for preparation of hydrocolloids with increasing content of hydroxyl groups as reactive sites. There have been a few attempts for synthesizing nanoparticles from hydroxymethylated lignin, using for example acid precipitation, or reacting lignin in the presence of phenol, which is a toxic compund with health hazard risks from the process and lifetime emissions of phenol formaldehyde systems. There is thus an urgent need for robust and readily scalable methods for the production of stabilized LNPs, while preserving the inherent hydroxyl groups that enable their dispersion state functionalization towards advanced biobased materials.