Transient Confinement of the Quaternary Tetramethylammonium Tetrafluoroborate Salt in Nylon 6,6 Fibres: Structural Developments for High Performance Properties

Abstract

A temporary confinement of the quaternary tetramethylammonium tetrafluoroborate (TMA BF4) salt among polyamide molecules has been used for the preparation of aliphatic polyamide nylon 6,6 fibres with high-modulus and high-strength properties. In this method, the suppression or the weakening of the hydrogen bonds between the nylon 6,6 segments has been applied during the conventional low-speed melt spinning process. Thereafter, after the complete hot-drawing stage, the quaternary ammonium salt is fully extracted from the drawn 3 wt.% salt-confined fibres and the nascent fibres are, subsequently, thermally stabilized. The structural developments that are acquired in the confined-nylon 6,6 fibres are ascribed to the developments of the overall fibres’ properties due to the confinement process. Surprisingly, unlike the neat nylon 6,6 fibres, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the as-spun salt-confined fibres have shown diminishing of the (110)/(010) diffraction plane that obtained pseudohexagonal-like β’ structural phase. Moreover, the β’ pseudohexagonal-like to α triclinic phase transitions took-place due to the hot-drawing stage (draw-induced phase transitions). Interestingly, the hot-drawing of the as-spun salt-confined nylon 6,6 fibres achieved the same maximum draw ratio of 5.5 at all of the drawing temperatures of 120, 140 and 160 °C. The developments that happened produced the improved values of 43.32 cN/dtex for the tensile-modulus and 6.99 cN/dtex for the tensile-strength of the reverted fibres. The influences of the TMA BF4 salt on the structural developments of the crystal orientations, on the morphological structures and on the improvements of the tensile properties of the nylon 6,6 fibres have been intensively studied.