Synthesis, characterization and thermal decomposition kinetics of a bio-based transparent nylon 10I/10T

Abstract

Herein, we report a novel transparent engineering plastic nylon 10I/10T based on bio-based poly(decamethylene isophthalamide) (nylon10I). We have demonstrated the one-step melt polycondensation synthesis of transparent nylon and carried out Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) to confirm the chemical structure. Furthermore, the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to analyze the thermal properties. Glass transition temperature (Tg) and thermal decomposition onset temperature (T1) of nylon 10I/10T (15 wt. % 10T) were 118.9 and 438.0 °C, respectively. The intrinsic viscosity, water absorption, light transmittance, mechanical properties, solvent resistance and the decomposition mechanism of nylon 10I/10T have also been investigated. The results show that the nylon 10I/10T has lower water absorption and enhanced solvent resistance compared to nylon 6–3-T, which indicates that nylon 10I/10T is a promising transparent plastic.

Keywords

• Bio-based
• nylon
• melt polymerization
• thermal decomposition kinetics
• activation energy (E)