Enhancement of physical and mechanical properties of polyamide 66 fibers using polysiloxane-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

A polyamide 66/3-aminopropyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PA66/APDMS)-carboxylate multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CMWNTs) nanocomposite (PA66/APDMS-CMWNTs) was synthesized using a one-pot method, and the product was melt-spun into fibers. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the PA66/APDMS-CMWNTs nanocomposite fiber is 68.0°C, which is 22% higher than that of the pure PA66 fiber. This result indicates that there is a strong interfacial interaction between APDMS-CMWNTs and the PA66. Furthermore, the crystallinity of PA66/APDMS-CMWNTs nanocomposite fiber reaches a maximum due to the addition of APDMS-CMWNTs. Additionally, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of PA66/APDMS-CMWNTs nanocomposite fiber are 167% and 631% higher, respectively, than that of the pure PA66 fiber. The strengthening mechanism was discussed using force balance-based expression, which demonstrates that the stress on the PA66 is more efficiently transferred to the APDMS-CMWNTs. These results argue that using APDMS-CMWNTs as a filler can enhance the physical-mechanical properties of PA66 with an elevated degree never being reported.