A novel strategy for the synthesis of polyamide-6 microspheres

In this study, we develop a novel method to prepare polyamide-6 (PA6) microspheres with designed morphology. The diameter range of the PA6 microspheres is controlled at 200 nm ∼ 500 nm by adding a certain amount of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant in the polyamide-6/polyethylene glycol (PA6/PEG) system. The key strategy for the method is to induce phase inversion by PEG in the synthesis process. PEG and SDS are removed with water and without any toxicity to environment. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) have confirmed that the PA6 spherical morphologies. The crystallization behaviour of PA6 microspheres is investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). We believe this strategy can be applied to prepare a variety of microspheres materials.