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Thermal behavior and structure of clay/nylon-6 nanocomposite synthesized by in situ solution polymerization

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Abstract

This article discusses the effect of increasing mass percentage of nanoclay on the thermal, structural and morphological properties of nanoclay/nylon-6 nanocomposite. Polymerization of ε-caprolactam conducted in the presence of clay resulted in increased d-spacing and expansion of the clay galleries. A combination of differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy was used to study the structure–property relationship. The effect of clay on the melting behavior of nylon-6 was studied by using quenched and normally cooled samples. The clay particles acted as external nucleating agents, and a dramatic effect on the crystallization behavior of nylon-6 was observed. The nylon-6 crystals formed are predominantly of the γ-type in the presence of clay. The presence of up to 1 % of clay lead to an increase in the heat of fusion. For nylon-6 samples containing greater than 1 % clay, the heat of fusion decreased significantly.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Grants from office of naval research (ONR) # N00014-09-1-0980 and National Science Foundation (NSF) # CMMI-0758656. We would also like to thank Soumyarwit Manna at Advanced Material Characterization Center (AMCC), university of Cincinnati who assisted in capturing the SEM images.

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  1. Material Science and Engineering Program, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0012, USA

    Aniket Vyas & Jude O. Iroh

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Correspondence to Jude O. Iroh.

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Vyas, A., Iroh, J.O. Thermal behavior and structure of clay/nylon-6 nanocomposite synthesized by in situ solution polymerization. J Therm Anal Calorim 117, 39–52 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-014-3681-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-014-3681-y

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