Liquefaction of cornstalk in hot-compressed phenol–water medium to phenolic feedstock for the synthesis of phenol–formaldehyde resin

Cornstalk powders were effectively liquefied in a hot-compressed phenol–water medium (1:4 wt/wt). The optimum liquefaction temperature was around 350 °C, where the liquid yield attained a maximum at about 70 wt%. The addition of sodium carbonate showed negligible effect over the Liquefaction product yields. When liquefied in phenol–water medium, essentially no phenol was combined with the liquid products, and the cornstalk-derived bio-oils were partially degraded monomeric and oligomeric products with a broad molecular distribution. Resol type bio-based phenol formaldehyde resins were readily synthesized from the cornstalk-derived bio-oils catalyzed by sodium hydroxide.