Polyamide 6/Layered Silicate Nanocomposites

Polyamide 6 (PA6) and its two exfoliated nanocomposites (PA6/Nf919 and PA6/BZ-COCO), with bentonite (2.5 wt.%) organophilically treated with different cations, were studied. Improved mechanical properties, changes in crystallinity and morphology as well as higher glass transition temperature values were observed for the nanocomposites in comparison to the neat PA6. For the nanocomposite PA6/BZ-COCO, of better surface modification of platelets and better interaction between the polymeric matrix and the organobentonite, higher values of Young's modulus and yielding point together with higher contribution of larger free volume holes to free volume distributions occurred.