Interphase crystal structure of polyamide 6 on carbon materials revealed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation

- The structure of PA6 at the interphase of carbon materials was investigated through GIWAXD.
- Only the α crystal was observed in the in-plane GIWAXD profile of PA6 on a graphite.
- Matching of lattice spacing and surface free energy of PA6 and carbon materials induces epitaxial crystal growth of PA6.

The orientation of polyamide6 (PA6) crystallites on the surface of carbon materials was investigated through grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction (GIWAXD) on the BL46XU beam line at SPring-8. PA6 films on graphite and amorphous carbon were implemented to model the interphase of the composite with PA6 and the carbon materials. Only the α crystal was observed in the in-plane GIWAXD profile of PA6 on a graphite plate. Further, it was found that the highly oriented graphite structure induced the α crystalline form of PA6 and made the methylene chains align/orient themselves epitaxially.

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