Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun Polyamide 66 Fibers Crosslinked by Gamma Irradiation

摘要

Polyamide 66 (PA66) was electrospun in the presence and absence of triallyl cyanurate (TAC) and irradiated with gamma rays. The morphology and structure of PA66 and PA66-TAC electrospun fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). SEM showed that the morphology of PA66 was not altered by gamma irradiation. The presence of TAC in the PA66-TAC electrospun fibers was confirmed by ~1H NMR. The physical and mechanical properties of PA66 and PA66-TAC electrospun fibers irradiated with 0～50 kGy radiation were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), therrnogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tensile tests. XRD suggested that the irradiated PA66-TAC electrospun fibers displayed a higher degree of crystallinity than pure PA66 electrospun fibers. The thermal properties of irradiated PA66-TAC electrospun fibers were greater than those of pure PA66 electrospun fibers, and tensile tests showed that the Young's modulus and stress of PA66-TAC electrospun fibers increased with increasing absorption dose due to TAC-induced crosslinking and the formation of a tighter network. Therefore, the results show that gamma irradiation-induced crosslinking can be used to enhance the mechanical properties of PA66.