In order to study the action of water in heat-setting of nylon 6 fibres, an infra-red-spectroscopic method was used for the investigation of exchange reaction between active hydrogen atom of acid amide group in nylon and deuterium oxide. It is assumed that the exchange reaction occurs only in the amorphous regions in the solid phase. Comparison was made between infrared spectra of nylon 6 films (N-H polymer) deuterated in the vapour phase at low and high temperatures with those of the polymer (N-D polymer) produced by polymerization of proviously deuterated ε-caprolactum, for which the whole hydrogen atoms are exchanged by deuterium. The changes in accessibility of both N-H and N-D polymers were measured from the spectra of the samples obtained by repeating the steam-setting alternately in D
2O and H
2O vapour at the same temperature. The results obtained shows that by the initial steam-setting in D
2O vapour, deuterium oxide molecules may penetrate into the ordered regions in the polymer films and break down partly intermolecular hydrogen bonds, followed by exchange reaction and recristallization. In subsequent steam-setting, however, such reaction no longer proceed.
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