Non-isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Polyamide 6/Diamine-modified MWNTs Nanocomposite

The non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of polyamide 6/diamine-modified multi-walled carbon nanotube (PA6/D-MWNT) nanocomposite was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The modified Avrami equation, the Ozawa equation and the combined Avrami/Ozawa equation were employed to analyze the non-isothermal crystallization data. The crystallization activation energies were also evaluated by the Kissinger method. It was found that the combined Avrami/Ozawa equation could successfully describe the non-isothermal crystallization process. The results showed that D-MWNTs not only acted as effective heterogeneous nucleating agents for PA6 and noticeably increased the crystallization temperature of PA6, but also influenced the mechanism of nucleation and crystal growth of PA6 and then reduced the overall crystallization rate of the neat PA6 matrix. The crystallization activation energy for the nanocomposite sample was greater than that of the neat PA6, which indicated that the addition of D-MWNTs hindered the mobility of PA6 chain segments.