Microstructure and impact strength of polyamide 6 composites

• Studied two types of composites – polyamide 6 nanocomposites and glass fibre reinforced polymer 6.
• Studied effect of blending sequence on mechanical properties of polyamide 6 nanocomposites.
• Developed polyamide 6 nanocomposites with much increased impact strength.
• Tensile properties of the toughened polyamide 6 nanocomposites have not compromised.
• POE-g-MA shows both toughening and compatibilizing effect in glass fibre polyamide 6.

Impact strength and tensile strength of materials are among the most important properties in sport equipment. The objective of the paper is to greatly increase impact strength with no compromise of tensile strength of both polyamide 6 (PA 6) and short glass fibre reinforced PA 6 (GFPA 6), the two commonly used materials in sport equipment. For PA 6, ternary nanocomposites have been designed with the addition of nanoclay as strengthening agent and ethylene-octene elastomer grafted maleic anhydride (POE-g-MAH) elastomer as toughening agent. The microstructure of the nanocomposites is found to be affected by the blending sequence of the various constituents. With the control of the microstructure and formulation, polyamide 6 nanocomposites with impact strength increased by more than 140% without compromising their tensile properties have been successfully developed. For the GFPA 6 composite, the formulation and process have been optimized to avoid reduction in the glass fibre length. Additionally, the POE-g-MAH is found to also act as compatibilizer to increase interfacial adhesion between the glass fibre and the PA 6. The impact and tensile strength of the 30% glass fibre reinforced PA 6 have been increased by 145.4% and 8.9% with the addition of 5% POE-g-MAH.

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