A strategy towards simultaneously improving strength and processability of polyamide 6 using bespoke dynamic covalent chain extender

Abstract The chain extension of polyamide 6 (PA6) via a chemical reaction between a chain extender and the amino and carboxyl groups of the polymer increases the molecular weight and improves the mechanical properties, while typically deteriorates PA6 processability owing to cross‐linking. To resolve this issue, a dynamic covalent chain extender containing two anhydride groups is synthesized, which reacts only with amino groups, and employed to connect the PA6 molecular chains via the reaction between anhydride groups and terminal amino groups of PA6. On adding 3 wt% of the chain extender, the content of amino end groups is decreased from 30.6 to 5.8 μmol g−1 and the yield strength and elastic modulus of chain‐extended PA6 exceed those of original PA6 by 15.8% and 23.4%, respectively; meanwhile, the melt torque of chain‐extended PA6 is lower by 35.0% approximately, and the complex viscosity is also decreased. As far as we know, the dynamic covalent chain extender is used for the first time in the chain extension of PA6. This study provides a prospective approach to recycle PA6 for simultaneously improving mechanical properties and processability.