Abstract
Montomorillonite was organically modified with different swelling agents, namely n-dodecylamine, 12-aminolauric acid and 1,12-diaminodecane. The polyamide 6/clay nanocomposite were prepared by solvent blending with formic acid and using a single screw extruder.From X-ray diffraction analysis, it was found that the clay could not exfoliated in the PA6/clay nanocomposite, and these materials are intercalated nanocomposites. The effects of the organoclay contents and the types of swelling agent on the crystallization behavior of the PA6/clay nanocomposites have been studied with a differential scanning calorimeter. The clay behaves as a heterogeneous nucleating agent of polyamide, increasing the crystalling rate. Clay also induces the formation of the γ-form crystal and slightly decreases the melting point of polyamide 6( ~1.5℃).Mechanical tests showed that small amount (less than 9 phr) of organoclay can enormously enhance the flexural strength, flexural modulus and tensile modulus. The increase in flexural strength, flexural modulus and tensile modulus can reach 93%, 107% and 78%, respectively, when adding 5phr organoclay using 1,12-diaminodecane as the swelling agent. The HDT performance is up to 89% (from 63.8℃to 120.7℃)when using 5phr 12NH2-MONT as nanofiller in PA6.