Improvement of polyamide 1010 with silica nanospheres via in situ melt polycondensation

Abstract Polyamide 1010 (PA1010) had been prepared by in situ melt polycondensation in presence of silica nanospheres with amine groups on the surfaces (SiO₂NH₂). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements demonstrated that the nanosphere surface was grafted with PA1010 chains. Wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements showed that the PA1010/SiO₂NH₂ nanocomposites had a lower degree of crystallinity (χ_c) in comparison with PA1010 and PA1010/SiO₂ nanocomposites. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) indicated that SiO₂NH₂ nanospheres improved glass transition temperature (T_g), tensile strength and storage modulus of PA1010 since SiO₂–NH₂ nanospheres limited the mobility of PA1010 chains. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers