The effect of different percent loadings of nanoparticles on the barrier and thermal properties of nylon 6 films

• Five different nylon 6 nanocomposite films were produced (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8%).
• The best oxygen barrier was obtained by the 8% loading.
• For carbon dioxide barrier, both 6 and 8% loadings were the best.
• The best water vapor barrier was obtained by the 8% loading.
• Both Tm and ΔHf decreased with increasing percent loadings.

The objective for this study was to investigate the effects of different % loadings on the barrier and thermal properties of nylon 6 nanocomposite materials. Surface modified montmorillonite minerals under the name of Nanomer® I.30T nanoclay were used in this study to produce five different films with varying loading levels of nanoparticles. These films were tested for their permeabilities to oxygen (OTR), carbon dioxide (CO2TR), and water vapor (WVTR). Thermal properties testing on the samples included differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Results showed that all gas barriers significantly increased with percent loading up to 4% but there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the 6 and 8% for CO2TR and OTR at 0 and 50% RH. For the DMA, the storage modulus also significantly increased (p < 0.05) with increasing loading except between the 2 and 4% concentrations. For the DSC analyses, enthalpy of fusion decreased slightly from an average of 39 J/g (control) to 32 J/g (8% loading). The melt temperature also decreased from 227 to 222 °C between those loadings.Industrial relevanceThe data collected from this study can be useful to film manufacturers in fabricating nylon nanocomposite materials.