Comparison study on transparent composites with different patterns of nanofiber reinforcement

In this work, PA-6 core and PMMA shell composite nanofiber mats together with pure PMMA and PA-6 nanofibrous membranes were obtained through electrospinning. Two kinds of transparent composites were fabricated by hot pressing multilayers of the composite nanofiber mats and of the interlaced pure PA-6 with PMMA nanofibrous membranes, respectively, under the same processing condition and with the same amount of PA-6 nanofiber content. Tensile properties and visible light transmittances of the two transparent composites were characterized. It has been found that both the tensile behavior and the visible light transmittance of the composites obtained from the composite nanofiber mats were better than the counterparts from the interlaced pure PA-6 and PMMA nanofibrous membranes. With a minor loss of less than 10 % in the transparency, a maximal increase of around 20 % in the tensile modulus and tensile strength has been recognized for a transparent composite from the composite nanofibers. Although less efficient, the tensile strengths of the composites from the interlaced nanofibrous membranes were all higher than that of a transparent panel processed from the pure PMMA nanofibers.