Polyamide-6: The effects on mechanical and physicochemical properties by electron beam irradiation at different temperatures

Abstract The electron beam irradiation of polyamide-6 (PA-6) films was carried out in air over a range of 50–1000 kGy at varying temperatures and a dose rate of 5.1 kGy min −1 . The effects of the irradiation at temperatures above and below the glass transition temperature ( T g ) on the thermal and mechanical properties were studied. Melting and crystallization temperatures decreased significantly with the increase in irradiation dose, whereas percent of crystallinity varied only slightly and T g slightly increased for irradiated samples respect to non irradiated one with no significant effect of the dose. Mechanical properties were affected by irradiation. The material became more rigid with a direct relationship between the mechanical properties and the irradiation dose. The irradiation above T g led to a larger variation in the thermal and mechanical properties respect to the irradiation below T g . The changes in properties were related to the crosslinking produced in the amorphous part of the polymer by the electron beam irradiation.