A spinning concept for ultrafine composite nanofibre yarns

Nanostructured assemblies with nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes are promising for diverse applications, such as nanotechnical and bio- medical engineering. Although there are many methods of fabricating nanofibres, electrospinning is currently in the spotlight as the most versatile process. A designed strategy is created to construct nanofibres assembly to meet a specific need for spinning continuous yarn. In our work, nonwoven electrospun nylon 6 nanofibres produced with formic acid under different concentrations have been examined. The optimum polymer solution concentration (20 wt %), applied voltage (15 kV), and spinning distance (8 cm) have been found to make uniform nylon 6 nanofibres. A simple technique that can produce a bundle of aligned electrospun nanofibres suspended between two grounded disks is described. Highly aligned and twisted composite Nylon 6 nanofibres incorporating multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were successfully electrospun, using a novel mechanism. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were conducted to characterize the morphology of nanofibres, the dispersion of MWCNTs and their alignment inside the fibre body. By manipulating the electrical forces during electrospinning and applying mechanical stretching to the electrospun nanofibres, high polymer chain orientation and better alignment of the MWCNTs particles along the fibre axis was achieved. Twist was applied to the nanofibres for providing the required cohesion interaction and friction thus, spinning a continuous twisted composite yarn. © BHR Group Process Intensification & Nanotechnology Conference 2008.