A novel kind of sulfonated polyethersulfonephenylethane (SPESPE) was successfully synthesized firstly in this work. Then the SPESPE was introduced in polyethersulfone (PES) microspheres prepared by the electrospraying technique. The microspheres were applied to adsorbing bisphenol A (BPA) from its aqueous solution. Compared with the PES microspheres, the adsorption capacity of PES/SPESPE microspheres for BPA was increased significantly. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity of PES/SPESPE microspheres was enhanced by increasing the amounts of SPESPE in the microspheres. The pH of solution had influence on the adsorption capacity of PES/SPESPE microspheres. The kinetic data of adsorption were found to follow pseudo-second-order model. The Freundlich isotherm model was suitable to describe the equilibrium adsorption data. The microspheres also showed excellent regeneration and reuse ability. These results indicated that the PES/SPESPE microspheres have the potential to be used in environmental application. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43066.

Poly(ether ether sulfone) (PEES) containing semi-aromatic polyamides with methylene units and ether linkage were synthesized through the copolymerization of m-dihydroxybenzene, 4,4-dichlorodiphenylsulfone (DCDPS) and 1,6-N, N′-bis(4-fluorobenzamide) hexane (BFBH) by the method of nucleophilic polymerization. The inherent viscosities of the resultant different proportion of copolymers were in the range of 0.39–0.78 dL/g. These copolymers were found to have excellent thermal properties with glass transition temperatures (T_g) of 121–177°C, and initial degradation temperatures (T_d) of 417.5–432.5°C. These copolymers showed good mechanical properties with tensile strengths of 45–83 MPa, storage modulus of 1.8–2.6 GPa. The complex viscosities of pure Poly(ether ether sulfone) (PEES) was in the range of 176,000–309.8 Pas from 0.01 to 100 Hz, the complex viscosities of the copolymers decreased significantly with the increase of semi-aromatic amide content, the copolymers of 20% decreased from 4371 to 142.4 Pas (from 0.01 to 100 Hz), and the copolymers of 70% dropped from 634.6 Pas to 55.97 Pas (from 0.01 Hz to 100 Hz). All copolymers exhibited non-Newtonian and shear-thinning behavior. These results suggested the resultant copolymers possess better melt flowability that is beneficial for the materials’ melt processing. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:44–50, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

Poly(arylene sulfide sulfone) (PASS) is a kind of newly developed polymeric membrane material which has excellent mechanical strength, thermal stability, and solvent resistance. And, it would be a potential material for high temperature ultrafiltration and organic solvent filtration. In this article, PASS hybrid ultrafiltration membrane with improved antifouling property was prepared by mixing TiO₂ nanoparticles which were grafted with polyacrylic acid (PAA). These membranes were prepared by a phase inversion technique and their separation performance and antifouling property of the prepared membranes were investigated in detail by SEM, FTIR, EDS, contact angle goniometry, filtration experiments of water, and BSA solution. The results shown that the TiO₂-g-PAA nanoparticles dispersed well in membrane matrix, the hydrophilicity of the membranes prepared within TiO₂-g-PAA nanoparticles have been improved and these membranes exhibited excellent water flux and antifouling performance in separation than that of the pure PASS membranes and PASS membranes with TiO₂ nanoparticles. More specifically, among membrane sample M0, M1.5, and MP1.5, MP1.5 which contained 1.5 wt% TiO₂-g-PAA exhibited the highest water permeation (190.4 L/m² h at 100 kPa), flux recovery ratio, and the lowest BSA adsorption amount. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2829–2837, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

A series of sulfonated poly(aryl ether sulfone) copolymers containing phenyl pendant groups with sulfonic acid groups on the backbone were synthesized through condensation polymerization. The degree of sulfonation (DS) of the copolymers was controlled by changing the feed ratios of sulfonated to unsulfonated monomers. Post-crosslink reactions are carried out with 4,4′-thiodibenzoic acid (TDA) as a crosslinker and the carboxylic acid groups in TDA can undergo Friedel–Craft acylation with the phenyls pendent rings in sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s copolymers to prepare polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications. The chemical structures of crosslinked and uncrosslinked sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s copolymers (SPSFs and CSPSFs) were characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR spectra. The thermal and mechanical properties of the membranes were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and stress–strain test. The dependence of water uptake, methanol permeability, proton conductivity, and selectivity on DS was studied. Transmission electron microscopic observations revealed that SPSFs and CSPSFs membranes form well-defined microphase separated structures. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2013–2022, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers

Aromatic polyamides containing thioether units were synthesized by interfacial polycondensation of 4,4′-thiodibenzoyl chloride (or 4,4′-bis(4-chloroformylphenylthio)benzene) with aromatic diamines containing a nitrile unit. Their structure was established using ¹H NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The inherent viscosities of the polyamides prepared with optimum synthesis conditions were in the range 0.71–0.84 dL g⁻¹. These polyamides showed excellent thermal properties with glass transition temperatures of 210.5–219.6 °C, melting temperatures of 313.8–315.0 °C and initial degradation temperatures of 440–459 °C. They could be processed by melting due to their relatively wide processing window. Their tensile strengths were 71.3–79.1 MPa, water absorption was 0.17–0.22 wt%, and melt flowability was in the range 64.5 to 315.2 Pa s and 68.5 to 422.3 Pa s at different shear rates. At the same time, they were soluble in aprotic solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylformamide and dimethylsulfoxide. The results suggest that these aromatic polyamides containing thioether units represent a promising type of heat-resistant and processable engineering plastic. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

Two kinds of monomers containing thioether units 4,6-bis(4-chloroformylphenylthio)pyrimidine (BPPM-DC) and 3,6-bis(4-chloroformylphenylthio)pyridazine (BPPD-DC) were synthesized by two steps and were reacted with diamine-containing thioether (−S–) and sulfone units to prepare a kind of polyamide containing heterocycles and high contents of thioether groups. These polyamides had good optical properties, including an optical transmittance of the aromatic polyamide film at 450 nm that was higher than 87%. Additionally, the pyridazine, pyrimidine and the large quantity of thioether units provided the polymers with high refractive indices of 1.722–1.732 and low birefringences of 0.004–0.006. These polyamides were also found to have good thermal properties. They showed improved solubility in polar aprotic solvents and could form tough films with a tensile strength of 79.2–112.3 MPa and a storage modulus of 1.4–2.4 GPa (at 200 °C).© 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

4,4′-Bis(4-chloroformylphenylthio)benzene was synthesized in two steps and was reacted with diamine-containing thioether and amide units to prepare a polyamide containing high contents of thioether groups. The intrinsic viscosities of the polyamides were 0.76–0.87 dL g⁻¹. These polyamides had excellent thermal properties, with glass transition temperatures of 234.8–269 °C and initial degradation temperatures of 461–469.7 °C. They showed improved solubility in polar aprotic solvents and could form moderate strength films with a tensile strength of 75.2–111.6 MPa and storage modulus of 1.0–1.3 GPa (at 220 °C). These polymer films also had good optical properties, including an optical transmittance of the aromatic polyamide film at 450 nm that was higher than 90%. Additionally, the high quantity of thioether units provided the polymers with high refractive indices of 1.700–1.704 and low birefringences of 0.007–0.008. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

The focus of this work is the preparation of aramid nanofibers via electrospinning technology and the study of their adsorption properties. In this article, aramid nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning aramid fibers solution with the addition of lithium chloride (LiCl). It showed a good adsorption capacity when methylene blue (MB) was used as the model target. There were much larger adsorption amounts and faster kinetics of uptaking target species of electrospun aramid nanofibers to MB than that of electrospun polyethersulfone (PES) nanofibers. Compared with activated carbon, aramid nanofibers also have a much faster adsorption rate to MB. Aramid nanofibers were subsequently used to effectively remove endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A (BPA), phenol (Phe), and p-hydroquinone (BPhe) from their aqueous solutions. Additionally, molecule imprinted technology enhances aramid nanofibers with much higher adsorption amounts and special adsorption property for endocrine disruptors. These results showed that aramid nanofibers have the potential to be used in environmental applications. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012

In this article, a new large-scale aligned fiber mats formation method called salt-induced pulse electrospinning was developed. By electrospinning salted solution in a humid environment, traditional continuous electrospinning changed into pulse electrospinning and aligned fibers were thus formed. The possible mechanisms for the occurrence of salt-induced pulse electrospinning and the formation of fiber alignment were studied. The continuous electrospinning changing into the pulse electrospinning was due to the change of viscosity and conductivity of salted polymer solution in a wet electrospinning condition. Fishing net-shaped whipping region of the electrospinning jet during pulse electrospinning process was considered as the key factor for the formation of fiber alignment. The mechanical properties of the aligned fiber mat increased significantly compared with that of the random fiber mat. This aligned fiber preparation method only requires a very low rotating drum speed as the receiver and can produce large-scale aligned fiber mats for many applications. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012

This article successfully prepared the red blood cell-shaped microspheres via electrospraying. The polymer solution was comprised of polyether sulfone (PES) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and the hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) was added to regulate and control the structure of the microspheres. When the solution concentration was 7.6 wt % and PES/PEG proportion was 10 : 5 while preparing microspheres, the shape and diameter of the microspheres was the most similar to that of erythrocyte. The results suggested that the forming mechanism of the red blood cell-shaped microspheres be related to two aspects. One is that the microspheres had relatively weak mechanical strength because of the sponge pores internal nanostructure. The other is that the existence of residual solvents and water within the microspheres would dissolve the gel phase PES and then further weaken mechanical strength of the outer layer of the microspheres, which caused the structural changes on the top layer of the spheres, that is, the top layer collapsed, and the microspheres finally turned into the red blood cell-shaped microspheres. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011.

Polyethersulfone (PES) porous microspheres were prepared via electrospraying technique, and then were used for the removal of endocrine disrupters from aqueous solutions. The surface and the internal structures of electrosprayed microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the results showed that they were porous. The electrosprayed porous PES microspheres can remove biphenyl A and biphenyl effectively. At the same time, they showed larger adsorption capacity and fast kinetics of uptaking target species than PES injected spheres reported in the earlier publications. The hydrophilicity and porosity of electrosprayed microspheres can be controlled by changing the amount of hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG), which influences the adsorption properties of the microspheres. The results showed that electrosprayed porous PES microspheres have the potential to be used in the environmental application. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011