Flow-Induced Crystallization of Polyamide-6

Abstract

Abstract Flow-induced crystallization has been widely studied for a variety of polymers with the main focus on polyolefins. In this work, research has been conducted on the flow-induced crystallization of another important class of polymers, namely polyamides. Different polyamides-6 with varying molecular weight have been studied. At relatively modest values of shear rate, rheology has been used to study the kinetics of flow-induced crystallization. Typical scaling relations based on the longest relaxation time and the Rouse time – usually obtained for polyolefins – are tested for the polyamides under investigation in order to identify the different regimes of flow-induced crystallization. At high shear rates, a correct rheological signal was impossible to collect. However, the rheometer was used in this case to prepare the sample to be studied ex-situ by Wide Angle X-ray Scattering experiments to determine the onset shear rate for the formation of highly oriented shish-kebab structures.