A Kinetic Study of the Thermal Degradation of Nylon-6/Attapulgite Nanocomposites

The thermal degradation behavior of nylon-6 (PA6) and PA6/attapulgite (ATP) nanocomposites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis under non-isothermal conditions at various heating rates in nitrogen. It is suggested that during thermal degradation, ATP, as a protective barrier, can slow down degradation of polymer, but the catalytic effects of structural water and hydroxyl groups may accelerate the degradation of PA6. The combination of these two effects determined the final thermal stability of nanocomposites. The apparent activation energies of the samples were evaluated by the Kissinger and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa methods. The results showed that the presence of ATP adversely affected the thermal stability of PA6. The degradation activation energies of PA6/ATP nanocomposites decreased monotonically with increase in ATP content; thus, it is suggested that the ATP has a disadvantageous effect on the thermal stability of PA6.