Enhanced thermal stability and UV resistance of polyamide 6 filament fabric via in-situ grafting with methyl methacrylate

Functionalized polyamide 6 (PA 6) filament fabric with excellent thermal stability and UV resistance was copolymerized with methyl methacrylate (MMA) via in-situ grafting initiated by immobilized ascorbic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Grafting modification process was determined at 30 % of H2O2, at 70 ? for 60 min of duration, and the grafting degree could be tuned by adjusting the amount of MMA. Microscopic investigations confirmed the granular MMA was immobilized on the surface of PA 6 fibers. A strong peak at 1729 cm(-1), assigning to C--O stretching of ester bond of MMA, demonstrated MMA was successful grafted. The decompo-sition temperature of grafted PA 6 occurring at 444.6 ?, was 40 ? higher than that of pristine PA 6 (403.4 ?). Additionally, the introduction of MMA also improved the UV resistance of PA, more than 80 % decrease in transmittance of UVA band and UVB band with only 0.34 % grafting degree. Therefore, it can be concluded that in-situ grafting of MMA can endow PA 6 with excellent thermal stability and UV resistance. We believe that in-situ grafting of MMA would have important guiding significance for the fabrication of PA 6 based textiles with excellent thermal stability and UV resistance.

Automated summary

This study utilized in-situ grafting to copolymerize methyl methacrylate (MMA) with polyamide 6 (PA 6) filament fabric, successfully endowing PA 6 with excellent thermal stability and UV resistance. The grafting degree could be adjusted by reaction conditions and MMA amount, and microscopic observations confirmed the immobilization of MMA on the fiber surface. Grafted PA 6 showed a 40℃ higher decomposition temperature compared to pristine PA 6, and significant improvement in UV resistance.