Study on the Effects of Swelling Agents on the Crystallization Behavior of Polyamide 6/Clay Nanocomposite

摘要

Montomorillonite was organically modified with three different swelling agents, namely n-dodecylamine, 12-aminolauric acid and 1,12-diaminodecane. These organoclays and polyamide 6 were blended in formic acid solution. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the clay still remain its layer structure in the PA6/clay nanocomposite. Consequently, these materials are intercalated nanocomposite. The effects of swelling agent and the organoclay contents on the crystallization behavior of the PA6/clay nanocomposites have been studied with a differential scanning calorimeter. Results showed that the addition of clay can increase the Tc of PA6 for about 5～8°C during nonisothermal melt crystallization Thus, clay behaves as the nucleating agent and enhances the crystallization rate of PA6. Two melting peaks were observed in melt crystallization samples while only one melting peak was found in cold crystallization samples, indicating that the addition of clay induces the formation of γ-form crystal of PA6. The crystallinity of PA6 decreases with the increasing of clay content. Different swelling agents also affect the crystallization behavior of PA6.