In order to improve the pervaporation performance of SA

nano-alumina

nano-zirconia and nano-titania were incorporated into SA solution

respectively. The difference of pervaporatin performance was analyzed

and the membrane that had better separation performance was selected for pervaporation (PV)-assisted esterification of acetic acid and ethanol. The effect of nano-particles content on the separation performance was investigated. The obtained membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

X-ray diffraction (XRD)

thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermal stability

tensile strength and permeate flux of hybrid membranes were enhanced after incorporating nano-particles into SA. When the mass ratio of nanoparticles to SA was 0.3

the methylene iodide contact angle of incorporated TiO2

ZrO2 and Al2O3 hybrid membranes increased

respectively. Meanwhile

the permeate flux increased at the same time. The hydrophilic property of SA-0.3Al2O3 membrane was the best; however

the separation performance of SA-0.3ZrO2 membrane was better. The permeate flux of SA-0.3ZrO2 membrane was 336 g·m-2·h-1 with water content 99.97% in the permeate side and separation factor 29990 when the amount of water in feed was 10% at 50℃. The conversion of esterification enhanced by pervaporation reached 93.9% in 12 h at 80℃.