The Effect of Melt Processing Conditions on the Hydrogen-Bonded Sheet Orientation and Polarization of Nylon 11 Films

It is known that melt-quenched, cold-drawn, and then annealed nylon 11 films possess a particular doubly oriented hydrogen-bonded sheet structure: the hydrogen-bonded sheets being in the plane of the film and the molecular chain direction being in the direction of draw. These films have been shown to be ferroelectric. In order to clarify the role of this special double orientation on polarization mechanisms and, in addition, provide insight into the reasons for this unique orientation, a systematic study was undertaken. Nylon 11 was melted at 210 degrees C in a hot press for different melting times (ranging from 30 a to 20 min) prior to quenching into an ice-water bath. The resulting orientation of the hydrogen-bonded sheet structure in these films was examined using wide-angle X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. For undrawn, melt-quenched films with short times in the melt, a degree of preferred orientation of the hydrogen-bonded sheets in the plane of the film was observed. As time in the melt increased, this preferred orientation in the plane decreased. This was also observed for films which were cold drawn before annealing. However, following cold drawing and several cycles of polarization using a maximum field of 150 MV/m at room temperature, the uniaxially drawn films with different times in the melt possessed the same remanent polarization and the same final orientation of the hydrogen-bonded sheets in the film thickness direction. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.