| Abstract: | Nylon 6 fiber, grafted with various vinyl monomers, viz., methyl methacrylate (MMA), ethyl methacrylate (EMA), and n-butyl methacrylate (n-BMA) were evaluated for their tensile, dye uptake, moisture regain, and solubility characteristics and compared to those of the parent nylon 6 fiber. The tensile properties (tenacity and initial modules) of the grafted samples show a decreasing trend and the percentage breaking elongation an increasing trend with the increase in the graft level in the case of all the three monomers compared to parent nylon 6 fiber. Disperse dye uptake also shows a decrease with the increase in the graft level in all the three monomers grafted only onto nylon 6 fiber. With the introduction of hydrophobic groups in the polymer backbone the moisture regain values decrease. This is true for all the samples and follows the order MMA-g-nylon > EMA-g-nylon > n-BMA-g-nylon. Solubility of the polymer in the solvent orthochlorophenol (OCP) and metacresol (MC) also decreases with the increase in the graft level for all the three monomers used in the following manner: OCP: EMA-g-nylon > n-BMA-g-nylon > MMA-g-nylon; MC: n-BMA-g-nylon > EMA-g-nylon > MMA-g-nylon. |
