In-situ Synthesis of Polyamide-6/POSS Nanocomposites

In-situ ring opening polymerization of ${\varepsilon}-caprolactum$ was carried out in the presence of aminoethylaminopropylisobutyl POSS and stoichiometric amount of adipic acid. The covalent bond formation of POSS on the polyamide was confirmed by the appearance of FT-IR peak at $1123\;cm^{-1}$ that corresponds to the Si-O stretching of POSS structures. Gradual decrease in melting endotherm peak was observed on loading POSS in PA6/POSS nanocomposites. Sharp increase in intrinsic viscosity was observed upto 2.5 wt % loading POSS in the polyamide 6 nanocomposites. These nanocomposites were further characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance, melt viscosity and X-ray diffraction.