Interphase crystal structure of polyamide 6 on carbon materials revealed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation

The orientation of polyamide6 (PA6) crystallites on the surface of carbon materials was investigated through grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction (GIWAXD) on the BL46XU beam line at SPring-8. PA6 films on graphite and amorphous carbon were implemented to model the interphase of the composite with PA6 and the carbon materials. Only the α crystal was observed in the in-plane GIWAXD profile of PA6 on a graphite plate. Further, it was found that the highly oriented graphite structure induced the α crystalline form of PA6 and made the methylene chains align/orient themselves epitaxially.