UV Protection and Photocatalytic Activity of Novel Polyamide 6/ZnO Hybrid Nanofibers via Electrospinning/Electrospraying Method

Abstract

In this study, novel polyamide 6 (PA6)/zinc oxide (ZnO) hybrid nanofibers membranes containing of elongated-ZnO and spherical-ZnO nanoparticles were successfully fabricated using electrospinning/electrospraying method. Elongated-ZnO a higher surface area than spherical-ZnO nanoparticles do because of its unique structure, thus yielding higher performance. The novel PA6/ZnO hybrid nanofibers are smooth, bead-free, and very fine diameter (130–145 nm) which shows perfect conditions for electrospinning/electrospraying technique. The electrospun PA6/elongated-ZnO hybrid nanofibers decomposed >60 % of the methylene blue in the only short time of UV irradiation. The various morphologies of ZnO nanoparticles displayed differences in photocatalytic performance and ultra violet protection factor (UPF), and were ranked as follows: elongated-ZnO > spherical-ZnO. In addition, the increase in content of ZnO nanoparticles in nanofibers leads to higher collision among them; therefore, better UV protection properties were achieved. The novel PA6/ZnO hybrid nanofibers containing of elongated-ZnO nanoparticles with UPF=48 were fabricated. In this study established that PA6/ZnO hybrid nanofibers, specifically those with the elongated-ZnO nanoparticle, can be useful in UV protecting materials.