Spinnability of SPPESK and its application in esterification

The electrospinning of sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone) (SPPESK) and its blend with polyether sulfone (PES) were investigated and the blend nanofibers were applied as a catalyst in esterification. Attempts to electrospin pure SPPESK resulted in electrospraying rather than electrospinning. However, a blend polymer solution of SPPESK and PES resulted in smooth electrospinning when SPPESK content was lower than 9 wt%. The geometrical properties such as fiber diameter and distribution, surface chemical properties such as inter-molecular interaction and crystalline, mechanical properties were investigated by SEM, FTIR, XRD, etc. The catalytic activities of SPPESK-PES nanofibers were measured by esterification of ethanol with acetic acid. A pseudo-homogeneous model was established to describe the kinetics of esterification with nanofiber as a catalyst. The results showed that the SPPESK-PES blend nanofiber had a high specific surface area (46.7–58.9 m²/g), good mechanical properties, good catalytic properties (ethanol conversion up to 80 % when reacted 8 h), and good forward rate constants (10.0?×?10^?3–14.6?×?10^?3 L/(mol?min)).