BackgroundThe treatment of dye residue water pollution is a hot research topic, so it is necessary to prepare a resin which can adsorb dye efficiently. MethodsThe sodium polystyrene sulfonate (PSSNa) were prepared by the sulfonation reaction of styrene resins with concentrated sulfuric acid and applied for Methylene Blue adsorption in wastewater. The structure of PSSNa was characterized by FT-IR, SEM, XPS and XRD. Significant findingsThe results show that the maximum adsorption capacity is 16.89 mg∙g−1. The adsorption processes of Methylene Blue with PSSNa conforms to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm adsorption model, which means that the adsorption process follows single-molecular layer adsorption mechanism. The characteristic group (–SO3−) of the exchange resin interacts electrostatic with MB. Good desorption was achieved with 1 mol·L−1 HCl solution, and the resin retained good adsorption capacity after 5 adsorption-desorption cycles. In practical applications, PSSNa exhibits a good removal efficiency for dyes containing MB in lake water. These results provide a reference for the treatment of printing and dyeing wastewater by resin adsorption materials.