Polyamide 6 and thermoplastic polyurethane recycled hybrid Fibres via twin-screw melt extrusion

The sorting of multi-component textile waste into individual components limit the recycling potential of textile waste. Thermo-mechanical processes can be applied to recycle mixed waste, without sorting, to extrude hybrid fibres. This research reports on the mixing of polyamide 6 (PA6) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) polymers to produce hybrid fibres by melt extrusion process. Two different blending compositions; namely PA6–80 and PA6–50, were produced. SEM images show the development of interconnected multi-porous hybrid fibre structures with average PA6–80 and PA6–50 fibre diameter of 136 and 126 μm, respectively. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), TGA and ATR-FTIR results show the changes in the thermal and chemical properties of the blends, demonstrating the interactions that happen between PA6 and TPU. Mechanical testing shows properties of the novel hybrid fibres are in between that of the fibres spun from the constituent polymers. The multicomponent melt extrusion can be potentially applied to the mixed polymer waste.