Blends of Zein and Nylon-6

Abstract

Blends of zein and nylon-6 (55 k) in formic acid were used to produce solution cast films and electrospun fibers. When the amount of nylon-6 was 8 % or less blends were formed that had improved tensile strength and reduced solubility. The blends were analyzed using physical property measurements, DSC and IR spectra. Using between 2 and 8 % nylon-6 provided a 33 % increase in tensile strength. Young’s modulus increased by over 50 % in this range. In general elongation was lower for all formulations. Surprisingly the cast films having 0.5–8 % nylon-6 had improved solvent resistance to 90 % ethanol/water. Electrospun fibers were produced from formic acid solutions of zein and nylon-6 where the amount of nylon was 0, 2 and 6. Fibers produced from 27 % spinning solids had average diameters on the order of 0.5 μm. Reducing the spinning solids to 21 % provide slightly smaller fibers however, the fibers had more defects.