| Abstract: | The structure of nylon‐6 hybrids with synthetic or natural clays was investigated for melt‐pressed films with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry in comparison with the nylon‐6 homopolymer. In contrast to the development of familiar α‐form crystals in plain nylon‐6 film, the hybrid films produced γ‐form crystals when nylon‐6 was conjugated with synthetic mica, whereas the hybridization with natural montmorillonite gave rise to both α‐ and γ‐crystalline modifications. The degree of crystallinity of the nylon‐6 hybrid with synthetic mica was the highest of the three series. Moisture sorption isotherms obtained for these nylon‐6‐based films were all typically sigmoid‐shaped, although the prevalence of a higher crystallinity in the hybrid samples lowered the degree of moisture regain. The sorption behavior was analyzed well in terms of the parameters of a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller multiplayer adsorption model and a Flory–Huggins treatment. It was also observed that the cluster formation of the water adsorbed into the nylon‐6 matrix tended to be restricted by the hybridization with clay. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 479–487, 2002; DOI 10.1002/polb.10106 |
