Preparation of Water-Soluble Carboxymethylated Lignin from Wheat Straw Alkali Lignin

Water-soluble carboxymethylated lignin (CML) was synthesized using wheat straw alkali lignin (WAL) in aqueous medium. The process of carboxymethylation was optimized with respect to the NaOH concentration, monochloroacetic acid concentration, reaction temperature and time. The optimized product has a yield of 80.47% and a carboxyl group content of 2.8231 mmol•g-1, respectively. The optimum conditions for carboxymethylation are NaOH concentration of 20.0% (wt%), monochloroacetic acid concentration of 37.5% (wt%), temperature of 70 °C and time of 90 min. The optimized CML was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, 1H NMR spectroscopy and interfacial tension apparatus. The result shows that the substitution reaction of carboxymethylation occurs simultaneously in the phenolic hydroxyl group and aliphatic hydroxyl group in WAL. CML has the surface activity in water for industrial application as dispersant.