Driven by the advancement of science and technology, the number of safety incidents in coal mines has been steadily declining. Nonetheless, a small-scale killer, i.e., coal dust, has become a dominating factor threatening the safe production in coal mines. Therefore, the control of coal dust has become the key to the safe and efficient production of coal mines. The present paper discusses the preparation of a type of hybrid dust suppressant by cross linking sodium ligninsulfonate and acrylamide, which generates a type of macromolecular product. Subsequently, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy experiments are conducted to analyze the structure of the product. Moreover, the TG-DSC experiments are carried out to analyze the thermal stability of the product. It is found through a single factor experiment that the optimal synthesis condition is: the mass ratio of lignin to acrylamide is 2:7; the mass ratio of cross-linking agent to acrylamide is 3%; the optimal reaction temperature is 65 degrees C; an examination of the product through a high-power microscope with ultra depth of field reveals that the prepared macromolecular product can cause the coal dust particles to undergo an agglomeration process; however, the prepared product cannot sufficiently wet the coal dust; to enhance the wettability of the production, 0.15% (by mass fraction) of dodecyl dimethyl betaine (DDB) is added to the system. An experiment concerning the interaction between coal dust and the prepared product indicates that the present suppressant can effectively suppress the dispersion of coal dust through a combination of wetting and agglomeration effects. (C) 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.