Sorption and transport of water vapor in nylon 6,6 film

✍ Scribed by Loong-Tak Lim; Ian J. Britt; Marvin A. Tung

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 237 KB
• Volume: 71
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19990110)71:2<197::aid-app2>3.0.co;2-j

✦ Synopsis

The sorption and transport of water in nylon 6,6 films as functions of the relative humidity (RH) and temperature were studied. Moisture-sorption isotherms determined gravimetrically at 25, 35, and 45°C were described accurately by the GAB equation. Water-vapor transmission rates were enhanced above Ϸ 60 -70% RH, primarily due to the transition of the polymer from glassy to rubbery states. The glass transition temperatures (T g 's) of nylon 6,6 were measured at various moisture contents using differential scanning calorimetry. The results showed that the sorbed water acted as an effective plasticizer in depressing the T g of the polyamide. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was utilized to characterize the interaction of water and the nylon. Evidence from FTIR suggested that the interaction of water with nylon 6,6 took place at the amide groups. Based on the frequency shift of the peak maxima, moisture sorption appeared to reduce the average hydrogen-bond strength of the NOH groups. However, an increase was seen for the CAO groups.