| Abstract: | Nylon-11 polymorphs have been studied by x-ray diffraction and by infrared spectroscopy. A γ or γ-like phase of Nylon-11 was produced by treating the metastable δ' phase with gaseous HCl or DCl and then exposing the resulting complex (amidonium salt) to 100% RH H2O or D2O vapor. An oriented form of the γ or γ-like phase results from treatment of the oriented δ' phase, but stretching of the unoriented γ or γ-like phase, obtained by treatment of the unoriented δ' phase, induces a transformation to the α phase stable at room temperature. The use of DCl and D2O produced highly deuterated samples with Fermi resonances indicating the relative strengths of the hydrogen bonds are weakest in the α phase, intermediate in the δ' phase and strongest in the γ or γ-like phase. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
