Solid-state polyamidation of dodecamethylenediammonium adipate

Abstract

The solid-state polyamidation of nylon salts comprises an attractive research field. The low sublimation rate of dodecamethylenediamine ensures salt stability and accurate relationships between amine end-group analysis and extent of the reaction. This accuracy is further enhanced by studying the solid-state polyamidation of dodecamethylenediammonium adipate (DMA), a nylon salt with a low melting point. Reaction rate was found to be influenced drastically by temperature, but the temperature range to effect true solid-state reaction is actually limited. Even at temperatures significantly below the melting point of DMA, a transition of the process, from the solid to the melt state, was clearly observed. Kinetic data obtained were tested against well known solid-state and melt reaction models. Nevertheless, none of them can exclusively describe the polyamidation studied, possibly because the true reaction model should take into consideration the process leading to the solid-melt transition observed.