Characterisation of melt processed nanocomposites of Polyamide 6 subjected to uniaxial-drawing

In this paper, the processing and characterization of Polyamide 6 (PA6) nanocomposites containing graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) is reported. PA6 nanocomposites were prepared by melt-mixing using an industrial, co-rotating, intermeshing, twin-screw extruder. A bespoke screw configuration was used that was designed in-house to enhance nanoparticle dispersion into a polymer matrix. The effects of nano-filler type (xGnPTM M-5 and xGnPTM C-500), nano-filler content, and extruder screw speed on the bulk properties of the PA6 nanocomposites were investigated. The crystalline structures of PA6 nanocomposites are related to thermal treatment, stress history and the presence of moisture and nanofillers. DSC, Raman and XRD studies show an increase in crystallinity with increasing GNP content and a phase transformation between α-form to γ-form crystals as a result of the heterophase nucleation effect. The effect of uniaxial stretching on PA6 nanocomposites was investigated by drawing specimens heated at temperatures below the melting temperature. DSC and Raman studies on the drawn samples show an increase in yield stress as the GNP content increases due to the strain induced crystallization and γ—β transition during stretching. The rheological response of the nanocomposites resemble that of a ‘pseudo-solid’, rather than a molten liquid, and analysis of the rheological data indicates that a percolation threshold was reached at GNP contents of between 10–15wt%. An increase in tensile modulus of as much as 412% was observed for PA6/C-500 xGnPTM composites, at a filler content of 20wt%. The enhancement of Young’s modulus and yield stress can be attributed to the reinforcing effect of GNPs and their uniform dispersion in the PA6 matrix. The electrical conductivity of the composite also increased with increasing GNP content, with an addition of 15wt% GNP resulting in a 6 order-of-magnitude increase in conductivity. The effects of uniaxial-drawing and the inclusion of multiple nano-filler varieties on the electrical and mechanical properties are currently under investigation.

EFFECT of GAMMA IRRADIATION on CAPROLACTAM MIGRATION FROM MULTILAYER POLYAMIDE 6 FILMS INTO WATER FOOD SIMULANT and VALIDATION of THE METHOD

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Identification and migration of degradation compounds from irradiation of multilayer polyamide 6 films for meat foodstuffs and cheese

The aim of this work was to identify the degradation compounds produced during irradiation of multilayer polyamide 6 (PA-6) films and to study their migration into water and 95% ethanol food simulant. After irradiation of multilayer PA-6 films at 3, 7 and 12 kGy, degradation compounds were extracted using solid-phase microextraction, for which the time and temperature of extraction and stirring were optimized, and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Caprolactam, 2-cyclopentylcyclopentanone and aldehydes, among other compounds, were identified in the headspace of the films. Polydimethylsiloxane was considered the best fiber for extraction. The optimum conditions of time, temperature and stirring to extract the compounds were 20 min, 80 degrees C and 225 rpm. For validation purposes, the compounds were quantified in water and 95% ethanol and the results showed high sensitivity, good precision and accuracy. Migration of compounds from irradiated and non-irradiated multilayer PA-6 films into water and 95% ethanol food simulants was carried out at 40 degrees C for 10 days. The method was efficient for the quantification of decaldehyde, 2-cyclopentylcyclopentanone and caprolactam that migrated from multilayer PA-6 films into food simulants.

Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Caprolactam Migration from Multi layer Polyamide 6 Films into Food Simulants: Development and Validation of a Gas Chromatographic Method

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Carbon nanotubes/polyamide 6.6 nanostructured composites crystallization kinetic study

Compared with the traditional composites, the incorporation of carbon nanotubes into polymeric matrices can generate materials with superior properties, especially thermal, electrical and tribological properties. The aim of this study was to study the polyamide 6.6/carbon nanotubes (PA 6.6/CNT) nanostructured composites crystallization kinetics. The solution mixing technique was used to obtain the nanostructured composites studied in this work. PA 6.6 films were produced with amounts of 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 wt% (weight/weight) CNT. X-ray diffraction analyses were performed in order to determine the crystallographic properties of nanostructured composite. The nanostructured composites crystallization kinetic study was performed using the differential scanning calorimetry under isothermal and nonisothermal (dynamic) conditions. The results have shown addition of CNTs in the PA 6.6 reduces the Avrami exponent, affecting the crystallization process of the composite. © The Author(s) 2012.

Nonoxidative thermal degradation kinetic of polyamide 6,6 reinforced with carbon nanotubes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effect of gamma irradiation on caprolactam migration from multilayer polyamide 6 films into food simulants: development and validation of a gas chromatographic method

A GC method to determine caprolactam in water, 15 ethanol, and olive oil food simulants was developed and validated. Linear ranges varied from 0.96 to 642.82 g/mL for water, 0.64 to 800.32 g/mL for 15 ethanol, and 1.06 to 1062.34 g/g for olive oil, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.999. Method precision studies showed RSD values lower than 5.45, while method accuracy studies showed recovery from 72 to 111 for all simulants. The effect of gamma irradiation on caprolactam migration from multilayer polyamide 6 (PA-6) films intended for cheese into water, 15 ethanol, olive oil, and 3 acetic acid simulants was also studied. For migration assay, non-irradiated and irradiated (12 kGy) films were placed in contact with the simulant and exposed at 40C for 10 days. The validated method was used to quantify caprolactam migration from multilayer PA-6 films into the simulants, which ranged from 1.03 to 7.59 mg/kg for non-irradiated films, and from 4.82 to 11.32 mg/kg for irradiated films. Irradiation caused almost no changes in caprolactam levels, with the exception of olive oil, which showed an increase in the caprolactam level. All multilayer PA-6 films were in accordance with the requirements of the legislation for caprolactam migration.

Influence of the relative amounts of crystalline and amorphous phases on the mechanical properties of polyamide-6 nanocomposites

The relative amounts of amorphous and crystalline ?- and a-phases in polyamide-6 nanocomposites, estimated from the deconvolution of X-ray diffraction peaks using Gaussian functions, correlates with their mechanical, thermomechanical, and barrier properties. The incorporation of organoclay platelets (Cloisite 15A and 30B) induced the crystallization of the polymer in the ? form at expense of the amorphous phase, such that 12 wt % of Cloisite is enough to enhance the mechanical and the thermomechanical properties. However, higher nanofiller loads were necessary to achieve good barrier effects, because this property is mainly dependent on the tortuous path permeation mechanism of the gas molecules through the nanocomposite films. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

Using organoclay to promote morphology refinement and co-continuity in high-density polyethylene/polyamide 6 blends - Effect of filler content and polymer matrix composition

We investigate the gradual changes of the microstructure of two blends of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyamide 6 (PA6) at opposite composition filled with increasing amounts of an organomodified clay. The filler locates preferentially inside the polyamide phase, bringing about radical alterations in the micron-scale arrangement of the polymer phases. When the host polyamide represents the major constituent, a sudden reduction of the average sizes of the polyethylene droplets was observed upon addition of even low amounts of organoclay. A morphology refinement was also noticed at low filler contents when the particles distributes inside the minor phase. In this case, however, keep increasing the organoclay content eventually results in a high degree of PA6 phase continuity. Rheological analyses reveal that the filler loading at which the polyamide assembles in a continuous network corresponds to the critical threshold for its rheological transition from a liquid- to a gel-like behaviour, which is indicative of the structuring of the filler inside the host PA6. On the basis of this finding, a schematic mechanism is proposed in which the role of the filler in driving the space arrangement of the polymer phases is discussed. Finally, we show that the synergism between the reinforcing action of the filler and its ability to affect the blend microstructure can be exploited in order to enhance relevant technological properties of the materials, such as their high temperature structural integrity.

Pyrolysis of polyamide 6 under catalytic conditions and its application to reutilization of carpets

ε-caprolactam is a monomer of high value. Therefore, the chemical reutilization of polyamide 6 containing carpets for ε-caprolactam recovery offers some economic benefit and is performed on a technical scale with the help of the Zimmer-process. By this process polyamide 6 is depolymerized with steam and phosphoric acid. An alternative to this process is the thermal depolymerization - catalyzed or non-catalyzed. To investigate this alternative in more detail, the formal kinetic parameters of (i) the thermal depolymerization of polyamide 6, (ii) the thermal depolymerization in presence of sodium/potassium hydoxide, and (iii) the thermal depolymerization in presence of phosphoric acid are determined in this work. Based on the kinetics of the catalyzed or non-catalyzed depolymerization a stepwise pyrolysis procedure is designed by which the formation of ε-caprolactam from polyamide 6 can be separated from the formation of other pyrolysis products. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Tenacificação em Nanocompósitos de Poliamida 6 e Argila

Nanocompósitos de poliamida 6 (PA6) e montmorilonita modificada com sal de amônio quaternário têm sido estudados, visando melhorar as propriedades térmicas e mecânicas. De fato os efeitos da nano-escala e da interação carga-matriz resultam em maior módulo de elasticidade e resistência à tração, porém a deformação é reduzida. Assim, nesse trabalho, optou-se por adicionar elastômeros, terpolímero de etileno-propileno-dieno (EPDM) e terpolímero de etileno-propileno-dieno modificado com anidrido maleico (EPDM-MA), ao sistema PA 6/argila organofílica para recuperar os valores de deformação. Foi utilizada montmorilonita modificada com cloreto de dimetildioctadecil amônio. A intercalação por fusão foi realizada em câmara interna de mistura. Além das propriedades mecânicas, térmicas e reológicas, foram investigadas as modificações na cristalinidade da fase PA-6 em função da adição da argila modificada, EPDM e EPDM-MA, detectando-se as variações no grau de cristalinidade e nas temperaturas de fusão e cristalização. Os difratogramas de raios-x revelaram ocorrência de intercalação/esfoliação e também modificação da forma cristalina da PA 6, indicando a formação do cristal gama

低分子量马来酸酐化聚丁二烯橡胶改性聚乙烯增韧尼龙6

尼龙6是世界上使用最广泛的工程塑料之一，由于尼龙6大分子链中含有酰胺键能形成氢键，使其具有强韧、耐磨、耐冲击、耐疲劳、耐腐蚀等优异的特性。但是尼龙6存在低温和干态冲击性能差，吸水性大等弱点，不能满足汽车、电子、机械等行业对材料高韧性的需求。利用橡胶和弹性体对尼龙6进行增韧已经取得了很大的成功，但无法解决成本较高且基体材料刚性损失过大这一难题。实践证明，具有硬核软壳结构核壳粒子在增韧半晶性高聚物时，可以有效提高橡胶的增韧效率，减少体系拉伸强度和模量的损失。然而具有这种结构的核壳粒子合成过程复杂，成本很高，工业应用前景很小；而用传统的反应增容方法原位制备核壳粒子时，由于橡胶分子量大，黏度高，流动性差等特点限制了在反应中原位生成核－壳结构粒子的效率，影响最终的增韧效果。本论文首次尝试用低分子量的马来酸酐化聚丁二烯橡胶通过反应挤出的方法接枝改性聚乙烯，对尼龙6进行增韧，利用聚丁二烯橡胶分子链上的马来酸酐基团和尼龙6分子链的端氨基反应，在尼龙6基体中原位形成以聚乙烯为核，聚丁二烯为壳的核壳粒子，结果得到了高韧性、良好刚性的改性尼龙6。 实验证实该含有双键的低分子量橡胶能够成功的接枝到聚乙烯分子主链上，由于橡胶的马来酸酐化程度很高（14wt%），在同尼龙6共混过程中大大提高马酐基团和尼龙6端氨基之间反应生成的接枝共聚物的效率，可以有效减小两相间的界面张力，改善聚乙烯在尼龙6基体中的分散。通过透射电镜观察共混物内部形态结构发现，共混体系中形成了以聚乙烯为核，橡胶为壳的核－壳结构粒子。这种核－壳粒子对尼龙6有良好的增韧效果。当聚丁二烯橡胶的含量仅为1.5wt%时，尼龙6的冲击强度可以达到1100J/m，而拉伸强度还能保持在47.3MPa。 通过对核壳增韧体系冲击断面和拉伸力学曲线的分析我们发现，由于增韧体系中能够形成软壳硬核的核－壳结构粒子，在外力作用下，由橡胶相构成的壳结构能在聚乙烯核与基体之间形成纤维结构，这种纤维结构不仅能够改变体系的应力状态，引发基体屈服，而且大大增强了分散相粒子同基体之间的界面强度，提高体系的刚性。同时，由于两相间纤维结构的存在，材料内部形成一个类似“物理交联”的网络，材料表现出类橡胶的弹性拉伸性能，没有明显的屈服。 传统的S. Wu的逾渗理论不能很好预测这种核壳增韧体系的性能。Corté 和Leibler的模型不仅考虑了基体树脂的特性（ , , ）,而且还将分散相粒子尺寸（d）也考虑了进去，更好地预测了体系的脆韧转变点。同时在基体树脂相同，且都能增韧的前提下，可以通过Corté 和Leibler模型中参数C（代表分散相粒子能够引发基体发生屈服的能力）的大小预测增韧体系程度的大小，C值越大，体系增韧效果越好。 通过对从上述增韧体系中抽提出的原位生成的PE-g-PB-g-PA6接枝共聚物的热力学和形貌分析发现，PA6链段被限制在宽50-70nm条带状连续结构中，其运动能力受到限制，因此在结晶过程中PA6嵌段的扩散速度降低。导致在通常的结晶速率条件下（10oC/min）结晶不完善，其结晶度﹑结晶温度﹑熔融温度都有所降低，形成以γ晶型为主的不完善结晶。由于在PE和PA6链段之间由一个短的柔性PB链段相连接，因此PA6链段不能同PE发生共结晶，作为连续相PE的结晶行为受到接枝共聚物的影响要小很多。 关键词：低分子量马来酸酐化聚丁二烯橡胶，聚乙烯，尼龙6，核－壳结构，增韧，受限结晶。

异氰酸醋官能化乙丙共聚物的制备及其与尼龙6共混体系的研究

本工作合成了一种含异氰酸酷功能基团的不饱和单体，（3-异氰酸酯基-4-甲基）苯氨基甲酸-2-丙烯配（TAI）。以过氧化二异丙苯（OCP）为引发剂，该单体被用于乙烯丙烯共聚物（EPM）的自由基溶液接枝官能化。纯化后的接枝产物（EPM-g-TAI）的傅立叶变换红外光谱中存在2273cm-l异氰酸酷基团（-NCO），表明异氰酸醋单体已经接枝到乙丙共聚物上。接枝率采用化学滴定和红外光谱的方法确定。与EPM相比，EPM-g-TAl的分子量分布（MMO）变窄。采用旋转流变仪测定了EPM-g-TAl的流变行为。EPM-g-TAl的表观粘度高于EPM且随接枝率的增加而增加。采用接触角测定的表面分析表明，对于给定的的极性测定液体接枝产物的接触角随接枝率的增加而增大；我们同时得到接枝产物的表面自由能（75）以及表面自由能的色散分量（γs）和表面自由能的极性分量（γsρ），这些参数随接枝率提高而增大的趋势使我们可以定量估计接枝反应对改善极性的贡献。本工作研究了（3一异氰酸酯基-4-甲基）苯氨基甲酸-2-丙烯醋（TAl）官能化乙烯丙烯共聚物（EPM-g-TAI）与尼龙6（PA6）的反应共混。傅立叶变换红外光谱表明，由于EPM-g-TAl中的异氰酸醋基（-NCO）与尼龙6中的端胺基（-NH2）之间的化学反应：EPM-g-TAI／PA6谱图中3299cm-1处的阵日伸缩振动峰变窄变高，1640cm-1处阵日变形振动峰和1547cm-1处阵日弯曲振动峰变强。同时研究了共混体系的热性能、流变性能、机械性能和形态特征。OSC结果表明，在相同的共混组成下，EPM-g-TAI／PA6共混体系中尼龙6的结晶烩（△Hc）到氏于EPM／PA6共混体系中的尼龙6，这种差别随着共混物中乙烯丙烯共聚物含量的增加而增大，说明反应共混体系中尼龙6的结晶受到一定的限制；EPM-g-TAI／PA6共混体系的复数粘度和贮能模量高于相应的EPM／PA6共混体系；与相同组成的EPM／PA6相比，EPM-g-TAI／PA6中分散相的粒子尺寸更小，粒子分布更均匀，界面粘合更强；反应共混后的机械性能如拉伸强度、杨氏模量，弯曲强度和模量、缺口及非缺口冲击强度均随着接枝率的提高而增加。

Laser Surface Treatment of Polyamide and NiTi Alloy and the Effects on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Response

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to play important roles in development, post-natal growth, repair, and regeneration of mesenchymal tissues. What is more, surface treatments are widely reported to affect the biomimetic nature of materials. This paper will detail, discuss and compare laser surface treatment of polyamide (Polyamide 6,6), using a 60 W CO2 laser, and NiTi alloy, using a 100 W fiber laser, and the effects of these treatments on mesenchymal stem cell response. The surface morphology and composition of the polyamide and NiTi alloy were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. MSC cell morphology cell counting and viability measurements were done by employing a haemocytometer and MTT colorimetric assay. The success of enhanced adhesion and spreading of the MSCs on each of the laser surface treated samples, when compared to as-received samples, is evidenced in this work. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.