Preparation and characterization of nylon 6 compounds using the nylon 6-grafted GO

Nylon 6 compounds were prepared using master batch (MB) chips containing nylon 6-grafted graphene oxide (GO _graft ), which was prepared using an in situ polymerization method with GO dispersed in an ε-caprolactam monomer with 6-aminocaproic acid as the initiator. The MB chips were well compounded with the virgin nylon 6 chips with good processibility. The GO _graft showed good dispersion in m-cresol, formic acid, and sulfuric acid compared to the pure reduced GO, indicating that the nylon 6 chains were grafted successfully on the GO sheets, which was also confirmed by atomic force microscopy. This GO _graft improved the modulus of the compound by 139% by incorporating 0.015 wt% of the GO in the polymer matrix. However, the elongation at break decreased. The increase in modulus by incorporating small amounts of GO might have been due to the good dispersion of the GO in the polymer matrix and the strong interactions between them. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]