Industrial Lignin Upcycled to High-Performance, Cost-Competitive Bio-based Adhesives via Green Ion-Exchange Self-Catalytic Strategy

作者：Jiajun Liu, Hongcai Lu, Yuan Liu, Shuo Liu, Wen Wang, Yongzhuang Liu, Qinqin Xia, Haipeng Yu · 发表于：Research · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.34133/research.1226 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Lignin and Wood Chemistry、Enzyme-mediated dye degradation、Advanced Cellulose Research Studies

The global pulp industry discards over 50 million tons of lignin annually, with conventional valorization strategies hindered by performance and cost barriers. We report an ion-exchange, self-catalytic strategy to upcycle the industrial lignosulfonate into high-performance bio-based adhesives. The facile ion-exchange process transforms sodium lignosulfonate into lignosulfonic acid, which acts as not only a copolymer backbone of adhesive but also an intrinsic macromolecular catalyst, autonomously driving esterification reaction with citric acid and then wood polymers, eliminating the need of fossil-derived cross-linkers and energy-intensive pretreatments. This mechanism endows it performing excellent performance in bonding strength and boiling-water resistance. Crucially, the performance gains are coupled with important economic and environmental benefits; production costs are substantially lower than conventional petrochemical resins, and a life cycle assessment confirms markedly reduced environmental impacts alongside negligible formaldehyde emissions. This work successfully resolves the performance-sustainability-cost trade-off, establishing a waste-to-wealth pathway for circular manufacturing.