Studies on polymer blend of nylon 6 and polypropylene or nylon 6 and polystyrene using the reaction of polymer

In the presence of maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene, marked dispersibility of the polymer blend of isotactic polypropylene and nylon 6 was obtained. This appeared to be caused by the formation of a certain graft polymer between maleic anhydride in polypropylene and terminal amino groups of nylon 6. The same phenomenon was observed when polystyrene and nylon 6 were blended with styrene–methacrylic acid copolymer as the interpolymer. The existence of such a graft polymer was confirmed by solvent extraction, estimation of the amino group of nylon 6, and identification by differential scanning calorimetry. The physical properties, especially mechanical properties of nylon 6–polypropylene polymer blends, were remarkably improved with increase of maleic anhydride added to the polymer blend. On the other hand, the physical properties those of nylon 6–polystyrene polymer blends were very little improved even in the presence of good dispersibility.     

Biodegradation of nylon4 and its blend with nylon6

The nylon4 portion in the blend films composed of nylon4 and nylon6 was degraded and completely disappeared within 4 months in two kinds of composted soils gathered from different university farms as well as pure nylon4 film reported previously, while the nylon6 portion remained even after the burial test for 15 months. Nylon4 powder was also degraded to carbon dioxide in the degradation test in an activated sludge obtained from a sewage disposal institution in Kogakuin University. Three species of microoganisms (i.e., ascomytous fungi) were isolated through the inoculation from the nylon4 film partially degraded in the soil on a medium containing nylon4 powder as a carbon source. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2307–2311, 2002     

Analytical study on the interface of polymer blends from advanced COPNA-resin and nylon 6

In the previous work, we introduced new polymer blends from the advanced COPNA-resin and nylon 6.¹ The morphology of the polymer blends were quite different between the B-staged state and the fully cured state. In order to investigate a phenomenon occurred in the curing process, ¹³C Fourier transform-nuclear magnetic resonance (FT-NMR) spectral analysis, ¹⁵N FT-NMR spectral analysis, and Fourier transform infrared absorptional spectral analysis were carried out on the blends in a solid state. From the spectral analyses, it was revealed that a graft reaction occurred at the interface between the advanced COPNA-resin and the nylon 6. The difference of the morphology on the fully cured polymer blends was due to the following reason. In the curing process, generated benzyl-type cations of the B-staged Advanced COPNA-Resin initially attacked and combined with nitrogen in the amino groups of the nylon 6. In the late stage of the curing process, the cations mainly attacked and combined with π electrons of the condensed aromatics. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 63: 549–557, 1997     

Thermal and crystalline behaviour of silk fiborin/nylon 66 blend films

A series of blend films of silk fibroin (SF) with nylon 66 were prepared by the common solution cast method. DSC analysis of every blend sample showed a large and broad endothermic peak around 150 °C. For SF/nylon 66 samples containing 10 and 30 wt% SF, large spherulites were observed and their melting processes were recorded using a polarizing microscope with hot-stage. Furthermore, a detailed study on 30 wt% SF sample indicated a distribution of two distinct spherulites: large spherulites in part A and much smaller ones in part B. In WAXD pattern, the large spherulites presented new peaks different from nylon 66 or silk's characteristic peaks that were ever reported, while the small ones assumed triclinic form of normal nylon 66. SEM showed that the SF and nylon 66 were nearly miscible in all ratios except that of 50 wt% SF.     

Crystallization behavior of polypropylene in polypropylene/nylon 6 blend

This article describes the crystallization behavior of polypropylene (PP) in the presence of a crystallizable polymer, namely, nylon 6, in the binary blend of PP/nylon 6 in the composition range from 0 to 30 wt % of nylon 6 content in the blend. The crystallization behavior was studied through variation of the crystallinity with the blend composition and changes in the crystallization exotherms were recorded by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the spherulite morphology was observed via polarized light microscopy (PLM). Comparison of the crystallization exotherms and melting endotherms revealed some differences which are attributed to the role of a sufficiently high thermal energy of the nylon 6 crystals on the melting of PP. The crystallinity of PP decreased in the presence of nylon 6, whereas the crystallinity of nylon 6 increased considerably in the presence of PP. The rate of nucleation of PP on addition of nylon 6 decreased rapidly in the region 0–10 wt % nylon 6 content, and, thereafter, at a higher nylon 6 content, decrease of the nucleation rate was relatively slow. PLM observation revealed the presence of composite spherulites with PP spherulites grown on the surface of the already‐formed nylon 6 spherulites. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 71: 1153–1161, 1999     

Barus effect in nylon 6 polymer melts

The maximum diameter of broadening of nylon 6 polymer melts due to the Barus effect d_max were measured under various conditions of spinneret die dimensions and polymer temperatures. The results obtained were formulated and compared with the typical past theories on the mechanism of occurrence of the Barus effect. The Barus effect was formulated by using the relation between stress and strain in the theory of rubber elasticity: where τs is the shear stress generated inside the spinneret die, T is the absolute temperature of polymer melts, λ is the elongation ratio parallel to the polymer stream, and d₀ is the diameter of spinneret die. This formula coincides with the experimental results.     

Gas permeability of thin dense films from polymer blend of thermoplastic elastomer and polyolefin

Stretched thin films composed of a thermoplastic elastomer, a polystyrene‐block‐poly(ethylene butylene)‐block‐polystyrene triblock copolymer (SEBS), and polyolefins, poly(ethylene‐co‐ethylacrylate) and poly(ethylene‐co‐propylene), were obtained by blow‐molding, uniaxial stretching, and cooling to room temperature and the gas permeability of the stretched films was investigated. When the as‐blown annealed film was subjected to uniaxial stretching in the machine direction, P_O2 and P_N2 increased with an increase in the stretching ratio K and approached a constant value at high stretching ratios. In addition, P_O2/P_N2 decreased gradually with K and approached a value of 2.95–3.0. The reason for this unique gas permeation behavior is that the molecular mobility of poly(ethylene butylene) chains in a direction normal to the film increases and reaches an equilibrium state at around K = 4.5. The change in gas permeability of the stretched films can be explained using a deformation model for the SEBS matrix. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39386.     

The modification of nylon 6 by a phenol-formaldehyde resin

Modification of nylon 6 by blending with a small amount of a novolac resin has been investigated. Unexpected increased of T_g and tensile modulus and reduction in moisture absorption have been found at levels of novolac incorporation of 1–3 wt %. The small amount of novolac resin also has an effect on the crystallization and nylon 6 crystal structure (α vs. γ form). © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Migration of divalent ions in nylon 6 films

The migration of ions through a nylon-6 film is studied by MRI. For this study the paramagnetic ions Mn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ are used as they act as a contrast agent and are detectable by MRI.     

Structure and properties of talc-filled polyethylene and nylon 6 films

Water vapor transmission rates can be reduced by as much as 50% in polyethylene by using talc as a filler. The oxygen permeability as well as water vapor transmission rates are similarly reduced by talc in nylon 6 films. The films show low elongation at break and reduced breaking strenth in the presence of talc. The yield strength and the modulus increase with the amount of talc, whereas the elongation at yield decreases. The mechanical and the barrier properties change with the size of the filler, the smaller size being more favorable. Talc probably acts as a nucleating agent and increases the crystallinity in polyethylene and nylon. Polyethylene unit cells in talc-filled films are oriented with the (110) planes parallel to the (001) planes of talc. Nylon 6 crystals, which are in the α form in the presence of talc, are oriented with the hydrogen bonded sheets, the (002) planes, parallel to the (001) planes of talc. In both polyethylene and nylon 6, talc is oriented with the c-axis normal to the plane of the film, i.e., with the broad faces of talc flakes in the plane of the film. Lattice matching between the polymer and talc suggests epitaxy to be a contributing factor for the observed orientation of polyethylene and nylon 6 crystals.     

Polyimide and nylon 6 blend film: Preparation,characterization and thermal behavior

A polyimide blend system has been prepared from a base polyimide of BTDAODA by adding ε‐caprolactam at the poly(amic acid) stage where ε‐caprolactam undergoes polymerization to form nylon 6 during the thermal cyclodehydration of poly(amic acid). The blend has been characterized by elemental analysis. IR, ¹³C CPMAS NMR, XRD and simple chemical methods. The thermal analysis study (TGA and DTA) shows that the stability of the blend systems is more in the lower temperature region (up to 300°C) in comparison to the control polyimide system. The isothermal study at 400°C in inert atmosphere shows that the blend system is equally stable but the isothermal study in air at 400°C shows that the thermooxidative stability of the blend films (except BB 4) is higher. Also, isothermal study in air at 500°C shows more than 90% weight loss for all the films within 3 h, but in an inert atmosphere, the blend films show lower weight loss compared to the control film. Although the XRD pattern of all the blend and control films shows an amorphous character, the films developed some crystallinity when treated with boiling NMP where the blend films developed higher crystallinity.     

Morphology,nanomechanical and thermodynamic surface characteristics of nylon 6/feather keratin blend films: an atomic force microscopy investigation

The surface structure and nanomechanical properties of solution‐cast nylon 6 (NY6)/feather keratin (FK) blend films were investigated using a combination of tapping‐mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) phase imaging and nanoscale indentation. A tendency for a nanoscale phase separation between NY6 and FK in their various blends was judged based on the blend phase images. The surface topography and roughness analysis of the AFM height images revealed that FK‐rich blends had coarser surfaces than NY6‐rich ones, possibly due to the heterogeneous nature of the FK chemical structure. Amplitude–phase–distance measurements involving the assignment of the darker and brighter regions of the phase images to NY6‐rich and FK‐rich, respectively, or vice versa led to the recognition of a phase inversion in the blend containing 40 wt% FK. The occurrence of the phase inversion phenomenon was related to the significant difference between the molecular weights of the blend constituents. Analysis of nanoindentation data showed that blending FK and NY6 at various ratios resulted in mixtures with modified mechanical and adhesion features. On the one hand, the NY6 component was responsible for an enhanced elastic modulus and stiffness of the blends, and on the other hand, the FK component provided higher pull‐off force and work of adhesion for the samples. A new approach is also proposed to directly determine the surface energy (γ) values of samples from the nanoindentation data. The excellent consistency between the calculated γ values and the results obtained from contact angle measurements lends credence to the proposed approach. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Phase separation induced ordered patterns in thin polymer blend films

Strategies for the utilization of phase separation to generate ordered pattern in polymer thin film are reviewed. First, the fundamental theory and factors influencing phase separation in polymer thin film are discussed. That is followed by a discussion of the formation of ordered patterns induced by phase separation in polymer thin films under the influence of a chemical heterogeneous substrate, convection or breath figures. The mechanisms and the conditions for well-ordered structures generated by phase separation are then discussed to show that multi-scaled/multi-component patterns, stimuli-responsive patterns may be developed by controlling the preparation conditions or exposing the sample to different environments more complex structures. Finally, applications of fabricated patterns in pattern generation and reproduction, antireflecting coating, catalysis, bio-chips and optoelectronics are also discussed.     

Rheology-morphology relationships in nylon 6/liquid-crystalline polymer blends

Extrusion measurements have been carried out on blends of nylon 6 and a liquid-crystalline copolyesteramide (LCP). The flow curves at low temperature show a behavior similar to that of pure LCP with a rapid rise of the viscosity at low shear rates. At high shear rates the viscosity is lower than that for each of the two components. This minimum has been attributed to the lack of interactions between the two phases and to the formation of fibrils of the LCP phase. The SEM analysis shows, indeed, that fibrils of the LCP phase are produced in the convergent flow at the inlet of the capillary at high shear rates. These fibrils are lost during the flow in the long capillary.     

Composition effect on dewetting of ultrathin films of miscible polymer blend

Two kinds of dewetting and their transition induced by composition fluctuation due to different composition in blend [poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(styrene-ran-acrylonitrile) (SAN)] films on SiO_x substrate at 145 °C have been studied by in-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that morphology and pathway of dewetting depended crucially on the composition. Possible reason is the variation in intensity of composition fluctuation resulted from the change of components in polymer blend. Based on the discussion of this fluctuation due to the composition gradient, parameter of U_q0/E, which describes the initial amplitude of the surface undulation and original thickness of film respectively, has been employed to distinguish the morphologies of spontaneous dewetting including bicontinuous structures and holes. Prior to the investigation of dewetting, it is confirmed that this blend is miscible at 145 °C using grazing incidence ultra small-angle X-ray scattering (GIUSAX).     

Conducting polymer composites of zinc‐filled nylon 6

The present work is concerned with the effect of processing variables and filler concentration on the electrical conductivity, hardness, and density of composite materials prepared by compression molding of a mixture of zinc powder and nylon 6 powder. The electrical conductivity of the composites is <10^?12 S/cm, unless the metal content reaches the percolation threshold at a volume fraction of about 0.18, beyond which the conductivity increases markedly by as much as 10 orders of magnitude. The density of the composites was measured and compared with values calculated by assuming different void levels within the samples. Furthermore, it is shown that the hardness increases with the increase of metal concentration, but for values of filler volume fraction higher than about 0.30 the hardness of samples remains almost constant. Two parameters of molding process, temperature and time, were shown to have a notable effect on the conductivity of composites, whereas pressure has no influence on this property in the pressure range considered. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 1449–1454, 2001     

Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) study of polymer blend films

Variable angle ATR was used to obtain a compositional depth profile of films cast from the blend solutions. Blend solutions were prepared from a colloid of high molecular weight styrene–acrylate–methacrylic acid copolymer, an alkali-soluble styrene–acrylic acid resin neutralized with ammonia and a colloid of copolymer of propylene. Films obtained from drying the blend solutions show a nonhomogeneous distribution of three polymers through the film thickness. This inhomogeneity cannot be explained solely on the basis of sedimentation effects due to density differences between three polymers. Experimental results of ATR using germanium and KRS-5 crystals are compared to provide estimates of the distance over which nonhomogeneous composition occurs.     

尼龙6工程塑料树脂的生产与应用及其新产品开发

介绍了国内外尼龙６工程塑料树脂的应用、生产与新产品开发情况,提出了国内尼龙６工程塑料的开发方向     

反应注射成型尼龙6的研究进展

介绍了反应注射成型尼龙6（nylon 6-RIM）、增强反应注射成型尼龙6（nylon 6-RRIM）、毡片模塑反应注射成型尼龙6（nylon 6-MMRIM）以及反应注射成型尼龙6嵌段共聚物（NBC-RIM）材料的性能特点以及研究进展。并讨论了nylon 6-RIM材料在各个领域的应用优势和前景。