Preparation of polyethersulfone/sulfonated polyethersulfonephenylethane microspheres and its application for the adsorption of bisphenol A

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.