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Nanocatalysis in Polyamide 6.6 Solid‐State Polymerization
Author(s) -
Boussia Anastasia C.,
Konstantakopoulou Maria O.,
Vouyiouka Stamati.,
Papaspyrides Constantine D.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201000325
Subject(s) - polyamide , materials science , nanocomposite , polymerization , chemical engineering , polymer , morphology (biology) , polymer chemistry , amorphous solid , nanoparticle , crystal (programming language) , composite material , chemistry , crystallography , nanotechnology , biology , engineering , genetics , programming language , computer science
Solid‐state polymerization (SSP) of a poly(hexamethyleneadipamide) (PA 6.6)/clay nanocomposite system was studied. SSP runs were performed in a fixed‐bed reactor, at temperatures 160–200 °C and reaction times up to 8 h. The influence of clay presence on the PA 6.6 SSP rate constant was herewith quantified for the first time to prove significant acceleration of the SSP process. A catalysis mechanism was suggested, according to which the positive effect of clay is of a synergistic origin attributed to nucleated crystal morphology, that increased the concentration of reactive end groups in the amorphous regions, to chain extension performed by clay SiOH groups, and to thermal protection of the polyamide matrix due to the presence of the nanoparticles.