Physical-Mechanical Properties and Morphological Study on Nylon-6 Recycling by Injection Molding

摘要

The effect of the multiple recycling of nylon-6 by inection molding on its physical-mechanical properties and morphology was studied after each cycle of injection. These studies were made in order to know how many times it is possible to recycle the nylon-6 without significant loss of the physical-mechanical properties. Optical and electronic microscopy were used ot evaluated the morphology. Molecular weight changes were determinated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The nylon-6 was recycled 10 times, until the eighth cycle the properties of the material did not suffered any change. Changes of 10-15% in the properties between nylon-6 with 10 cycles of injection and virgin material were observed. An exception was the percentage of elongation that decreased 70% gradually until in the tenth cycle of injection. The results from GPC show that the molecular weight of nylon-6 increased with recycling (M_w = 17% and M_n = 14%). With the reprocess was also observed the presence of gels.