Suppressed molecular orientation in nylon 6/clay nanocomposite at large strain: Role of microvoiding

A micro‐FTIR measurement has been conducted to explore the molecular orientation of amorphous phase in the nylon 6/clay nanocomposite at large strain. Our results indicate that the molecular orientation in such a nanocomposite during stretching is lower than that observed for the pure nylon 6 counterpart, which is further evidenced by the true stress‐strain dependence. The relaxation of the molecular network, resulted from the destruction of γ‐crystals in part and mostly from microvoding (demonstrated by volume dilatation and 2D‐SAXS measurements), should be responsible for the suppressed molecular orientation in the nylon 6/clay nanocomposite.