Abstract:

In this work, preliminary investigations on the influence of the structure of nanofibre based composites on their strength properties were made. As a ‘matrix’ material, needle punched nonwoven from classical polypropylene fibres was used. Polyamide 6.6 nanofibres electrospun directly onto ‘matrix’ nonwoven were used as a reinforcement. In order to obtain composites, the nanofibre/’matrix’ multilayer structures of different architecture but with the same weight percentage of nanofibres were pressed. On the basis of the investigations realised, it was found that collecting the nanofibres spun in the electrospinning process directly onto the ‘matrix’ nonwoven is more advantageous than transferring the layer of nanofibres from the collector onto the nonwoven. The tensile test indicates the influence of the composite structure on its strength properties. The composite obtained from the multilayer structure consisted of two thin layers of nanofibres uniformly arranged between the layers of ‘matrix’ nonwoven, characterized by a higher value of tensile stress and Young’s modulus than a composite based on one thicker layer of nanofibres. From the results comes that the use of
a higher number of nanofibre layers between the layers of ‘matrix’ nonwoven gives a more uniform arrangement of nanofibres in the composite space, favouring more the precise wetting of nanofibres by the matrix.