Non-isothermal crystallization of polyamide 6 matrix in all-polyamide composites: crystallization kinetic, melting behavior, and crystal morphology

The difference in the melting points of polyamide 66 (PA66) fiber and polyamide 6 (PA6) film permits the preparation of all-polyamide (all-PA) composites by film-packing. Good interface performance and integrated consolidation structure in this all-PA composite are contributed to the similar chemical composition between PA66 fiber and PA6 matrix. In this paper, the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics and melting behaviors of PA6 matrix in all-PA composite are studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), in which the modified Avrami equation, Ozawa model, and Mo equation combining Avrami and Ozawa equation are employed. It is found that the Mo equation exhibits great advantages in treating the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics for both neat PA6 and PA6 matrix in all-PA composite. The crystal morphologies of single PA66 fiber-PA6 composite by polarizing microscope (POM) clearly show a transcrystallinity layer of PA6 around PA66 fiber that proves a remarkable nucleation effect of PA66 fiber surface on the crystallization of PA6 matrix.