A novel catalytic composite membrane with anti-swelling for enhancing esterification of acetic acid with ethanol

Ester have important applications in medicine chemical industry, but esterification is a typical reversible reaction controlled by thermodynamic equilibrium. In the study, a new type of catalytic composite membrane (CCM) with SA-MoS₂/PAN as separation layer was reported. By-product water was proposed by pervaporation membrane reactor to improve the conversion rate of acetic acid. In 10 wt% ethanol-water solution, the separation factor of the catalytic composite membrane is 145 and the flux is 547 g m⁻² h⁻¹. Under the optimal condition, the acetic acid conversion rate reached 94.3%, which was 29% higher than that of batch reaction. The effects of single-layer catalytic membrane and double-layer catalytic membrane on acetic acid conversion rate were studied, which showed that the double-layer catalytic membrane had higher stability in esterification reaction.It is proved that high crosslinking degree can improve the stability of the membrane and reduce the conversion rate of acetic acid.