Investigation on solid-state polymerisation reaction mechanism of Nylon-6

Abstract

Solid-state polymerisation (SSP) is a convenient method of producing high molecular weight polymers at relatively low temperatures. In this work the SSP of nylon-6 was examined in a fixed-bed reactor. The solid-state polymerisation reaction kinetics of Nylon-6 was investigated in connection with the relative viscosity (RV) of the initial starting materials. The changes in the molecular weight and other properties were monitored as a function of the reaction times at solid-state temperatures of 130–200 °C. Starting materials with higher initial molecular weights exhibited higher rates of SSP than those with lower initial values. Activation energies decreased at temperatures above 170 °C, and this indicated a change in the SSP reaction mechanism. At temperatures of 170–200 °C similar activation energies were required for the polymerisation of all samples.