Phase transition in polyamide‐66/montmorillonite nanocomposites on annealing

The crystalline-phase transition in polyamide-66/montmorillonite nanocomposites before melting was investigated by in situ X-ray diffraction and is reported for the first time in this work. The phase-transition temperature in the nanocomposites was 170 °C, 20 °C lower than that in polyamide-66. The lower phase-transition temperature of the nanocomposites could be attributed to the γ-phase-favorable environment caused by silicate layers. Meanwhile, the addition of silicate layers changed the crystal structure of the polyamide-66 matrix and influenced the phase-transition behavior. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 63–67, 2003