Effect of Molecular Structure Change on the Melt Rheological Properties of a Polyamide (Nylon 6)

[Image: see text] Tailoring the polymer melt rheology and the chain relaxation dynamics permits easy handling of polymer processing and enables broader range of applications. Novel strategy to control the polymer melt rheology and the chain relaxation dynamics was devised. A simple process for molecular structural change in a polyamide (nylon 6) to easily generate a long-chain branching in a controllable manner without forming a network structure led to unusually large enhancements in the relaxation dynamics. The zero shear viscosity of the polyamide has increased more than 200 folds of linear chains viscosity, whereas the molar mass change was ca. 1.6 times. Storage modulus and the loss modulus at low frequency increased more than 10(4) and 10(3) times to those of neat polyamide without forming a network structure. The rheological properties of the polymer (nylon 6) melts can be finely tailored by this simple process to cover a broad range of applications.