Engineered sulfonated chitosan membranes <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> controlled sulfonation: Boosting catalytic efficiency in esterification

Gao Jinzhi; Xue Jiangyan; Yu Hao; Lu Xianghong

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Engineered sulfonated chitosan membranes via controlled sulfonation: Boosting catalytic efficiency in esterification

Updated：2026-05-14

- Engineered sulfonated chitosan membranes via controlled sulfonation: Boosting catalytic efficiency in esterification
- Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol. 90, Issue 2, Pages: 71-85(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
- Author bio：
  
  Corresponding author. E-mail address: luxh@zjut.edu.cn (X. Lu).
- Funds：
- DOI：
  CLC：
- Received：31 July 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-09-24，
  
  Accepted：26 September 2025，
  
  Online First：11 December 2025，
  
  Published：2026-02
- Accepted：
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Gao Jinzhi, Xue Jiangyan, Yu Hao, et al. Engineered sulfonated chitosan membranes via controlled sulfonation: Boosting catalytic efficiency in esterification[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2026, 90(2): 71-85.
DOI：

Gao Jinzhi, Xue Jiangyan, Yu Hao, et al. Engineered sulfonated chitosan membranes via controlled sulfonation: Boosting catalytic efficiency in esterification[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2026, 90(2): 71-85. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

Film catalysts are considered a promising alternative to homogeneous and conventional solid catalysts

as they address critical challenges related to recyclability and active site accessibility. In this study

chitosan (CS)

known for its excellent film-forming ability and chemical modifiability

was functionalized to produce sulfonated chitosan (SCS) catalytic films for oleic acid esterification. Firstly

SCS powders were synthesized through the sulfonation of CS using 1

3-propanesulfonic acid lactone (PS) as the sulfonating agent. Structural characterization techniques (FT-IR

H NMR

XRD and elemental analysis) confirmed the successful sulfonation

while thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed thermal stability up to 200℃. The strong acid content of

SCS-6

prepared at a PS/CS molar ratio of 6

was quantified as 1.09mmol·g

-1

through titration. This sample exhibited superior catalytic performance compared to the commercial ion-exchange resin LS-51

achieving an activation energy of 30.71 kJ·mol

-1

. Furthermore

the catalytic film was prepared from SCS-6 powder and used to catalyze the esterification of oleic acid in both a batch stirring kettle and a continuous film reactor. A high esterification conversion of 96.11% was achieved in the batch stirring kettle at 65℃

using a methanol-to-oleic acid molar ratio of 10:1 and a catalyst dosage of 5%(mass). In the continuous film reactor

an esterification conversion of 65.31% was achieved by adjusting the flow rate to 30 ml·min

-1

with a film area of 1962.5mm

and a reaction solution volume of 143.23 ml. These results underscore the potential of SCS film catalysts for continuous industrial production.

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Engineered sulfonated chitosan membranes via controlled sulfonation: Boosting catalytic efficiency in esterification

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