Chain Extension of Polyamide 6 Using Bisoxazoline Coupling Agents

The chain extension behaviors of 2,2′-(1,3-phenylene)bis(2-oxazoline) (MPBO) and 2,2′-bis(2-oxazoline) (BOZ) were studied to evaluate the coupling effect on polyamide 6 (PA6) in a Haake Rheocord mixer and an extruder. The coupling results showed that there existed an optimal dosage of chain extender, lack of which caused deficiency of chain extension and excess of which led to more blocking reaction. The effect of chain extension with MPBO was shown to be inferior to BOZ. When the optimum amount of chain extenders was added in PA6, the intrinsic viscosity of the polyamide 6 increased from 1.632dl/g to 1.787dl/g(MPBO) and 2.031dl/g(BOZ), respectively. The reaction time decreased very fast with an increase in the temperature. The chain-extended products dissociated at high temperature; the degradation is suggested to proceed from the onset of the chain extension reaction, as do the coupling and blocking reactions. Furthermore, the effects of MPBO and BOZ on the thermal and mechanical properties of chain-extended PA6 were also investigated.