Analysing the nanoporous structure of aramid fibres

After consideration of the applicability of classical methods, a novel analysis method for the characterization of fibre void structures is presented, capable of fitting the entire anisotropic two-dimensional scattering pattern to a model of perfectly aligned, polydisperse ellipsoids. It is tested for validity against the computed scattering pattern for a simulated nanostructure, after which it is used to fit the scattering from the void structure of commercially available heat-treated poly(p-phenylene terephtalamide) fibre and its as-spun precursor fibre.

The application shows a reasonable fit and results in size distributions for both the lengths and the widths of the ellipsoidal voids. Improvements to the analysis methods are compared, consisting of the introduction of an orientation distribution for the nano-ellipsoids, and the addition of large scatterers to account for the effect of fibrillar scattering on the scattering pattern.

The fit to the scattering pattern of as-spun aramid fibre is improved by the introduction of the large scatterers, while the fit to the scattering pattern obtained from the heat-treated fibre improves when an orientation distribution is taken into account. It is concluded that, as a result of the heat treatment, the average width and length of the scatterers increase.