ABSTRACT
Nanocomposites are an emerging class of organic/inorganic hybrid materials showing remarkable performance for multifunctional applications and have attracted great interest both in industry and in academia. The reinforcing effect of nanoclays in nylon 6/clay nanocomposites was investigated by several researchers. To gain fundamental knowledge of the effect of the incorporation of clay into nylon 6 for the production of nanocomposite fibers, elucidation of the process-structure-properties relation is necessary. E. Giza and coworkers also reported that the tensile strength of both the drawn neat and nanocomposite fibers was located at the same high level of 1 GPa whereas the tensile modulus of nanocomposite fibers containing 5 wt% of clay was about 15% higher than that of neat nylon 6 fibers. The crystallization rate in the quiescent state increases with the addition of clay, especially under high-cooling-rate conditions. The nanoclays slow down the burning process and enhance the char formation, but they have no effect on the ignition tendency and after-flaming properties.
