Nylon / Clay Nanocomposites

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The electrical properties of Nylon 6 polymer melts with and without nano-clay fillers at low concentrations were measured at NIST during twin-screw extrusion. These materials are commercially interesting because of their flame retardant properties. The first graph below shows permittivity versus time.

The second graph shows conductivity versus time. Each curve on the graphs represent a different frequency. Initially with unfilled nylon the measurements were steady with time. When clay was added the permittivities and conductivities shifted downward and steadied again within a short time. Clay addition was stopped and restarted with each change the readings toggled between repeatable levels for the with and without clay conditions. The clay concentration was relatively low and the changes in electrical properties were large and easily measurable.

With nylon the permittivity is large and varies substantially with frequency. This is because it is a relatively polar polymer.

Nylon also exhibits a relatively high conductivity.

The variations in permittivity and conductivity (or, equivalently, the imaginary part of permittivity) are best represented by Cole-Cole plots as shown in the graph below. The large semicircle represents the unfilled nylon and the small semicircle represents nylon with 5% clay nanoparticles. This representation clearly shows the large effect on electrical properties due to tha addition of a small amount of clay.