Preparation and Properties of Electrospun Polyethersulfone Membranes with its Sulfonated Derivative

Abstract

Electrospinning is an efficient method to prepare ultrafine fibers of polymer. In this article, we describe the fabrication of high quality polyethersulfone (PES)/sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES) blend nonwoven membranes having possible application for water purification. All spun fibers were bead-free; raising the ratio of SPES to PES led to a reduction in fiber diameters, with an aggregated structure being formed. In order to precisely investigate the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the obtained membranes, modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) was used; the addition of SPES promoted a growth in Tg value. As the content of SPES increased, a two-step thermal degradation was observed in thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curves. Compared to pure PES fibrous membranes, the mechanical properties of PES/SPES membranes were significantly improved, while the surface hydrophilicity of the blend membranes increased slightly.