Preparation of strongly acidic cation-exchange resins from gymnosperm acid hydrolysis lignin

The chemical preparation of strongly acidic cation-exchange resin from sulfuric acid lignin (Klason lignin) (SAL), a typical acid hydrolysis lignin, was investigated. Sulfonation of resinified SAL itself gave a resin with an ion-exchange capacity of 2.3 mEq/g. After resinification with formaldehyde, the phenolized SAL with a reactive p-hydroxyphenyl group yielded a resin with an ion-exchange capacity of 3.2 mEq/g. The latter capacity is superior to that of the corresponding commercial phenol-type resins (2-3 mEq/g), but did not reach the level of the corresponding commercial styrene-type resins (4-5 mEq/g).