Polyamides based on the renewable monomer, 1,13-tridecane diamine II: Synthesis and characterization of nylon 13,6

Nylon 13,6 was successfully synthesized and its chemical composition, thermal properties, crystal structure, and moisture absorption characterized. Melting temperature and glass transition temperature were determined to be 206 °C and 60 °C, respectively, while the equilibrium melting temperature was determined to be 248 °C. Characterization of the crystallization kinetics showed that nylon 13,6 exhibits very fast crystallization compared to the industrially important nylons, nylon 6 and nylon 6,6. In addition, the moisture absorption of nylon 13,6 was dramatically lower than nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 which is consistent with the much lower amide content of nylon 13,6. The crystal structure was determined to be different from the expected γ-form, which possess a pseudohexagonal unit cell. Instead, the x-ray scattering pattern was more similar to the α-form. A similar result has been obtained for other odd–even nylons including nylon 5,6, nylon 5,10, nylon 9,2, nylon 11,10, and nylon 11,12.