Aligned ZnO nanorods as effective reinforcing material for obtaining high performance polyamide fibers

The present study is an attempt to demonstrate that a small amount of rigid anisotropic nanostructures such as ZnO nanorods can be successfully used to transform commodity grade polymer to high performance grade fibers. ZnO nanorods with aspect ratio 14 and nanoparticles of circular shape were synthesized, melt-blended with nylon 6, melt spun, and subsequently, drawn to obtain composite fibers. The effect of shape and amount of nanostructure on the properties and morphology of the composite fibers was investigated. It was found that unlike the inclusion of ZnO nanoparticles, the incorporation of ZnO nanorods inside the nylon 6 fibers resulted in formation of highly oriented fibrillar morphology, which was instrumental in an increase of tensile strength by 115% to a value of ∼1 GPa and initial modulus by 142% to a value of 4.26 GPa while retaining high extensibility. Consequently, the composite fibers show high work of rupture, which makes them suitable for high impact applications.