Material BehaviourNon-isothermal crystallization kinetics of nylon 6/attapulgite nanocomposites

The non-isothermal crystallization behaviour of nylon 6 (PA6)/attapulgite (AT) composites was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which indicated that AT nanoparticles acted as nucleating agents during the crystallization of PA6/AT blends. The Avrami analysis modified by Mandelkern and the method combining Avrami and Ozawa equations were employed to analyze the non-isothermal crystallization behaviour. It was found that the Avrami analysis modified by Mandelkern was only valid for describing the middle stage of PA6 and PA6/AT nanocomposites crystallization. The method combining Avrami and Ozawa equations was able to satisfactorily describe the crystallization behaviour of PA6 and PA6/AT nanocomposites. In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the addition of AT into nylon 6 did not change the crystalline form of nylon 6.