the effect of nanoclay on the creation of clusters of polyamide 6 microfibrils

The pa6/clay nanocomposites were prepared during in-situ anionic ring-opening polymerization (arop) via reactive melt blending in a hakke internal mixer. then, the samples were characterized using ft-ir, dsc, dmta, rheometer, xrd, sem/edx/elemental mapping, tem, and ht-gpc to study the effects of cloisite 15a on pa6 properties. the results showed that nanoclay caused a decrease in the ultimate tensile strength (uts), crystallinity, tm, tg, and tan δ of the samples. however, it increased the young′s modulus and stress rupture of the samples. furthermore, the nanocomposites showed a pseudo-solid behavior because of the reinforcing effect of the nanoparticles. additionally, α crystals were not seen in the samples with 1 and 3 % nanoclay; however, γ crystals were observable in those samples. also, nanoclay decreased pa6 viscosity and increased dispersity and residual monomers in the nanocomposite samples. the nanoclays exfoliated in the sample have 0.5 % nanoparticles, but they were intercalated by more loading in the pa6 matrix. moreover, the pa6 microfibrils were observed as sporadic and clay-centered clusters in the sem micrographs of the pure and nanocomposite samples, respectively. therefore, the clustering of pa6 microfibrils in the matrix during in-situ arop is considered a novelty in current research.