Chemical Modification of Polyamide 6 by Chain Extension with Terephthaloyl-biscaprolactam

The chain extension behaviors of terephthaloyl-biscaprolactam (TBC), 2,2′-bis(2-oxazoline)(BOZ), 2,2′-(1,3-phenylene)bis(2-oxazoline)(MPBO), TBC/BOZ, and TBC/MPBO, were studied to evaluate the coupling effect on polyamide 6 (PA6) in a Haake Rheocord mixer and an extruder. For the chain extension of PA6 with TBC only, the coupling results showed that there was an optimal dosage of chain extender, shortage of which caused incomplete chain extensions and excess of which led to more blocking reactions. When the added amount of TBC chain extender in PA6 was 0.684 wt%, the intrinsic viscosity of the PA6 increased from 1.630 to 1.848 dl/g, and the concentration of the amine end groups in the chain-extended PA6 decreased from the initial 5.12 × 10−5 to 1.96 × 10−5 mol/g. However, for the chain extension of PA6 with TBC/BOZ and TBC/MPBO mixtures, the intrinsic viscosity of PA6 increased to 2.189 dl/g and 2.097 dl/g, respectively, while at the same time both the concentration of carboxyl end-groups and amine end-groups of chain-extended PA6 decreased. The effect of temperature on the time needed for the completion of the chain extension reaction was not obvious, and the time needed for the completion of the reaction was about 200 sec. The chain-extended PA6 dissociated at high temperature, and the degradation is suggested to proceed simultaneously from the onset of the chain extension reaction. Furthermore, the effects of chain extenders on the thermal properties of chain-extended PA6 were investigated. The thermal stability of chain-extended PA6 was slightly improved.