Glass transition in nylons

Differential thermal analysis (DTA) of some commercial nylons has disclosed some anomalous phenomena with respect to the glass transition, generally considered to occur at 40–50°C. On the first heat cycle the transition occurs normally. On cooling, however, no corresponding transition occurs, and on an immediate rerun the transition has disappeared. If another DTA thermogram is made after a few hours, the transition begins to reappear, but at a temperature lower by a few degrees. After about five days rest, the transition is again normal in size and temperature. On annealing at 75°C, the 43°C transition is pushed up to about 92°C. On resting after annealing, transitions appear at both 40 and 92°C. These phenomena are explained in terms of the slow formation of a hydrogen‐bonded network in the amorphous regions of the polymer. It is the disruption of this network that is normally considered to be the glass transition in nylons. The network is slow in re‐forming because of problems involved in matching up potential hydrogen‐bonding sites, which are, of course, distributed at intervals along the polymer chain. The temperature at which the network is disrupted is apparently dependent not so much on the ratio of bonding to nonbonding sites, as on the temperature at which it was formed.