Thermal degradation of nylon 6 nanocomposites

• Main Author: Wee, Sabrina Gui Fen.
• Other Authors: Loo Sun Sun Leslie
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Chemical engineering::Polymers and polymer manufacture
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/16420
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The thermal degradation behaviour of nylon 6 and nylon 6 nanocomposites under nitrogen and air atmosphere was investigated using TGA. The onset temperature of nylon 6 nanocomposites was found to be lower than that of pure nylon 6 in both nitrogen and air. On the other hand, temperature at which maximum degradation occurs do not differ very much for nylon 6 and their nanocomposites. This suggests that nanoclay only affects the initial stage of degradation. As clay content increases, a reduction in the second degradation peak (under air atmosphere) was observed. Activation energies calculated for nylon 6 and nylon 6 nanocomposites were similar using the Kissinger method, indicating that thermal degradation reactions had not been altered significantly by nanoclay. Clay caused the early onset of nylon 6 by releasing water which encouraged peptide bond scission reactions. Water was lost quickly and the degradation behaviour of nanocomposites became like that of pure nylon 6. Clay that was left behind during the degradation process had agglomerated, exhibiting the barrier effect which reduced mass loss from the remaining resin. This translates into a reduced degradation rate and accounts for the reduction of the second degradation peak thermal degradation in air.