Changes in the morphology of cast nylon 6 through copolymerization

Abstract

Correlations were made between several physical and mechanical properties and crystal morphology for copolyamides composed of caprolactam and either capryllactam or laurolactam as a minor comonomer. Incorporating a comonomer into the nylon 6 chain decreases the crystallinity and crystal size and, in addition, depresses the melting point of the polymer much more than predicted by the classical Flory theory on random copolymers. This fact, along with the change in the x‐ray diffraction patterns, indicates that small amounts (up to 10 mole‐%) of comonomer can enter the polymer crystals without any basic change in the α‐form crystal structure. The variation of copolyamide densities with comonomer content also supports this theory. The initial moduli of the copolyamides, when tested above their glass transition temperatures, obey a linear relationship with the reciprocal of the amorphous content of the polymers. The impact strength increases dramatically with decreases in crystallinity and crystal size. Some of these materials have extremely large ultimate elongations and have glass transition temperatures below room temperature.