Study on the preparation and properties of polyamide/chitosan nanocomposite fabricated by electrospinning method

Abstract The principal intention of this work is to fabricate and characterize the polyamide/chitosan nanocomposite by a novel single solvent method through the electrospinning procedure. The thermal properties and morphology of prepared nanocomposite are studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). TGA exposed that the primary decomposition temperature is reduced with rising of chitosan content in the nanocomposites and origin disintegration temperature for polyamide/chitosan nanocomposites is perceived to be in the range from 300 to 500°C. Also, FE-SEM images demonstrated that the nanofibers of chitosan have good adhesion on the matrix and are well-oriented. Besides, the crystallinity and structural characteristics of the polyamide/chitosan nanocomposites are investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively. The results of XRD proved that the successful blending of chitosan in polyamide is achieved via the electrospinning method. FT-IR results demonstrate that the nanofibers are consist of amine groups. Also, the electrical properties of the nanocomposite improved with the increasing content of chitosan and the conductivity of the polyamide/chitosan 5 wt% demonstrates the maximum current of 0.3 nA. Besides, the sheet resistance of the composite reduced 118 to 20 × 109 Ω with raising the chitosan volume from 0 to 5 wt%.