Effect of molecular orientation on the swelling of nylon 6

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Abstract
The effect of molecular orientation on the linear swelling of nylon 6 caused by absorption of water was studied using two kinds of oriented films, melt drawn and cold drawn. The molecular orientation causes anisotropy in swelling at all humidities such that the swelling is larger in the orientation direction than in the directions perpendicular to it. The large contribution of crystalline orientation to this phenomenon was expected for the melt drawn film which has practically no amorphous orientation. An analysis with a two‐phase morphological model reveals that the distance between the crystallites is a prominent factor controlling the degree of linear swelling, and that the anisotropy of swelling arises from the change in the distribution of crystallites due to orientation. By comparing the result for the melt drawn film with that for the cold drawn film, which has considerable amorphous orientation, it was proven that molecular orientation in the amorphous phase where swelling actually occurs does not depend so much on the degree of swelling as on the distribution of crystallites.