Thermal degradation and water sorption were investigated for the copolymers (4/6 copolymers), which had been prepared by anionic copolymerization of α-pyrrolidone and ε-caprolactam, in comparison with those of nylon 4, 6 and blends. The compositions of 4/6 copolymers were determined by IR spectrometric analysis. The water sorption isotherms were obtained by a weighing bottle method at various water vapor pressures controlled with saturated salt solutions.
The rates of thermal degradation for 4/6 copolymers at 275°C (3mm Hg, N
2) were somewhat smaller than those for nylon 4 and blends in the range of weight loss less than the amount of nylon 4 component. The amount of water sorbed in a monolayer state (
Vm) obtained by BET plot, and the molar ratio of
Vm to the amide content in amorphous region (
Vm/(CONH) (1-α), α: crystallinity) for nylon 4 were about 2 and 1.5 times, respectively as large as those for nylon 6. As to 4/6 copolymers,
Vm/(CONH) (1-α) increased linearly with the composition of nylon 4. From the analysis using the cluster function, it was elucidated that the formation of cluster in sorbed water molecules began to arise at a higher moisture regain for nylon 4 than for nylon 6, and the behavior in cluster formation for 4/6 copolymer having the composition 23.2 mole-% nylon 4 was rather similar to that of nylon 4, because of the increase of free amide groups caused by the decrease of crystallinity.
Although there are some problems in a low molecular weight and a low crystallinity, the 4/6 copolymer is interesting from the view point of melt process (spinning), because of their high moisture regain and melting point of about 150°C at which the polymer chain of nylon 4 is thermally stable.
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