Polyamide-imide reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene nanofiber membranes with enhanced mechanical properties and thermal stabilities

Abstract Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) porous membranes are widely used for high-temperature filtrations. However, high quality PTFE membranes with excellent mechanical properties and thermal stabilities by electrospinning are still highly required. Polyamide-imide (PAI) is a high performance polymer with a combination of properties from polyamides and polyimides, such as high strength and thermal stability. In this work, PAI reinforced PTFE fibrous porous membranes were prepared by emulsion electrospinning followed with sintering process. Tensile tests showed that PTFE composite membranes with 20 wt% PAI possesses modulus of 167.8 MPa and tensile strength of 19.0 MPa, which are 186% and 31% higher than those of pure PTFE fibrous membranes, respectively. In addition, the PTFE composite membranes also showed excellent thermal stability. These PAI reinforced PTFE fibrous membrane could be a promising candidate for filter application.