Waste liquors from cellulosic industries. IV. Lignin as a component in phenol formaldehyde resol resin

Abstract

The lignin separated from the spent liquor of soda pulping of rice straw can replace a part of phenol in the condensation reaction with formaldehyde in a basic medium to form phenol lignin–formaldehyde (PL–F) resol resin. The production of phenol lignin–formaldehyde resol resin was carried out in two stages: First was the formation of the adduct (lignin phenol) using different lignin percentages; second was the condensation of the adduct with formaldehyde. Reaction variables, i.e., molar ratio of formaldehyde to phenol lignin, polymerization time, amount of sodium hydroxide as a catalyst, and polymerization temperature in the polymerization step were studied. Solubility of the produced resol resin in different solvents, its viscosity, and yield were determined. Lignin could replace up to 40% of phenol in the produced resin. Infrared spectra of the prepared resin were determined. Structural similarity of phenol–formaldehyde to phenol lignin–formaldehyde resin was shown. Also, relative absorbance of characteristic bands of the resins were calculated and claimed too much on the effect of reaction parameters on the prepared resins.