Graphene reinforced nylon 6,6 electrospun nanofibers as improved nano2 materials

Nylon 6,6 nanofibrous mats containing different amounts of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) (500-150,000 ppm) as nano-reinforcement were produced via electrospinning technique and characterized with a particular attention to their mechanical properties. The production method of these materials was improved with the aim to reach a very good dispersion of the nano-reinforcement and the formation of nano-reinforced nanofibers (Nano2 materials) with no defects. Among the others, the study demonstrated the importance of the choice of an appropriate solvent system (trifluoroacetic acid/acetone 1:1 v/v) and of a suitable sonication process. The obtained electrospun nanofibrous mats were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and by tensile tests with a particular attention to the effect of the amount of nano-reinforcement on their mechanical properties. All nanofibrous mats do not show defects neither macroscopically nor at the nano level, even at high GNPs content. Tensile tests revealed that significant improvements in both modulus and maximum load are achieved when nanofibers contain up to 1,000 ppm of GNPs, without affecting the tenacity of the material.