Abstract
We report analysis of electrospun polymer nanofibers fabricated from blends of semicrystalline polyamide-6 (PA-6) and fully amorphous polyamide-6 (PA-6I) in the narrow diameter range of 200–250 nm. The combined differential scanning calorimetry and wide angle x-ray scattering results show the presence of α- and γ-phase crystals in PA-6 nanofibers. Simultaneous small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering investigations confirmed the existence of small elongated domains which were formed during the electrospinning process due to stretching of polymer chains. The Debye–Bueche analysis determined a cross-sectional width of elongated domains in the range of 10.8–16 Å. Additionally, analysis by Ruland’s method revealed a decrease in the length of elongated domains with increasing crystalline phase content in the blends. Evaluation of Herman’s orientation function suggested that the domains possessed higher molecular anisotropy along the c-axis in PA-6I compared to PA-6 nanofibers. These investigations and the suggested role of the amorphous phase in molecular stretching of polymer chains in electrospun nanofibers, may have broad implications for the size-dependent mechanical properties.
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