Preparation and characterization of polyamide 66 nanotubes and nanowires on an anodic aluminum oxide template by a physical wetting method

Abstract

Polyamide 66 (PA66) nanotubes with an array structure were prepared by infiltrating a solution of normal molecular weight PA66 into anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates with a pore diameter of 200 nm. The results of field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) demonstrate that PA66 nanotubes with a wall thickness of about 60 nm can be fabricated by a solution-wetting method and PA66 nanotubes and nanowires can be obtained by a melt-wetting method at different temperature. We also find that PA66 nanotubes have the “super plasticity” for the crystalline belts in their wall may arrange by spiraling and rounding style. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicates the nanotubes have a better thermal stability than bulk polymer PA66. The mechanism of forming polymer nanotubes by polymer melt-wetting method has been proposed.