Stabilisation of monometallic nanoparticles by polyamide 6

Monometallic metal nanoparticles (Pd, Pt, Ag and Ru) stabilised by polyamide 6 (PA6) have been prepared via a polyol process sustained by microwave irradiation. PA6 proved to be a good stabiliser, being spherical particles with little dimensional dispersion identified by transmission electron microscopy. Due to the inclusion of the metals in small amount (up to 3% w/w) into the macromolecular lattice, the polymer underwent changes in thermal behaviour, which, however, do not impair the possibility to process the material. The observed changes in differential scanning calorimetry curves indicated that metal containing PA6 materials are less crystalline and ordered than pure PA6. This was confirmed by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform analysis, which indicated that the introduction of the metal nanoparticles lowered the conformational order of the polymer matrix and partly disrupted the hydrogen bond network of the polyamide.