Fabrication and evaluation of polyamide 6 composites with electrospun polyimide nanofibers as skeletal framework

In this study, two types of polyimide (PI) nanofiber mats, including (1) the mats consisting of (almost) randomly overlaid PI nanofibers and (2) the mats consisting of highly aligned PI nanofibers, were prepared by the materials-processing technique of electrospinning. The nanofiber mats were subsequently used to develop composites with polyamide 6 (PA6) via the composites – fabrication method of polymer melt infiltration lamination (PMIL). Owing to superior mechanical properties (i.e., the tensile strength and modulus were 1.7 GPa and 37.0 GPa, respectively) and large specific surface area of electrospun PI nanofibers, the PI/PA6 composites with PI nanofiber mats as skeletal framework demonstrated excellent mechanical properties. In particular, the PI/PA6 composite containing 50 wt.% of aligned PI nanofibers had the tensile strength and modulus of 447 MPa and 3.0 GPa along the longitudinal direction, representing ∼700% and ∼500% improvements as compared to neat PA6.