Dissolution and chain dimensions of nylon 6 in metal halide—alcohol systems

Abstract

The dissolution mechanism of Nylon 6 was investigated in connection with the chain conformations of the polymer in some complex solvents, such as the metal halide—alcohol systems. Infrared studies on both the polymer solutions and the metal halide—alcohol mixtures revealed that Nylon 6 forms a complex with the metal halide—alcohol complex solvent. The characteristic ratio ( /nl2=9.41) of Nylon 6 was determined in a 15-g CaCl2/100-ml CH3OH mixture at 35°C, a theta solution, and is considerably larger than Flory’s value, 6.08, in which the specific solvent effects were not taken into account. It is pointed out how the solvent interactions affect the short-range interferences in the chain conformations in the complex solvent used in this work. © 1974, The Society of Polymer Science, Japan. All rights reserved.