NYCOA POLYMER TOPICS: Introduction to Nylon 6i6t
The hood of a car, these sorts of parts are often made from Nylon 6i/6t
The market and manufacturing industry for polymers is broad and diverse. Even within this wide array of polymer chemistries and producers, Nylon resins represent a huge diversity of different features, molecular constructions, and performance profiles. NYCOA has manufactured nylon resins in the USA since the 1950s, and we are continuously expanding our chemistry capabilities. As part of that expansion and diversification, we try to educate and highlight what makes different types of nylon unique, or desirable in different applications or end-use industries. To that end we will discuss nylon 6i6t in this post, and several to follow.
What is Nylon 6I/6T? Today marks the beginning of an exciting new deep dive into 6I/6T. We want to explore the challenges of manufacturing this product, its benefits, and its applications. By the end of the article series we hope you’ll be as excited by this new material as we are.
Part of a group called Polyphthalamides or PPA’s, 6I/6T are a relatively new development of polyamides. Since the early 1980s, PPA’s have been incorporated as a unique family of polymer chemistries that share a commonality in that they are a collection of aromatic or semi-aromatic molecules. In this case, Aromatic here means that they are polycondensates composed of aromatic dicarbooxylic acid and aromatic diamine. The long and short of this boils down to the presence of aromatic rings in PPA’s backbone which allows them to have higher mechanical and thermal resistance.
The ‘6T’ in a nylon 6i6t is a copolymer of nylon 6 and terephthalate, the same salt used in the creation of polyethylene terephthalate or PET. Generally speaking 6T will be more crystalline. Polyamide 6I is a copolymer of nylon 6 and isophthalate. This results in a polyamide which is more amorphous. As a result, any specific mixture of 6i and 6t will display a unique set of performance characteristics, which are not limited to crystallinity (although crystallinity is a very discernable difference in the look and feel of these polymers!)
Nylon 6I/6T generally refers to a blend of Nylon 6I and 6T. By adjusting this blend you can customize your material to the specific needs of your project. In general, 6I/6T will boast lower moisture absorption than short chain nylons such as nylon 6; they will exhibit good chemical resistances common with many nylon chemistries, and high temperature resistances as compared to other nylons. In some cases, 6I/6T grades display VERY high melt temperature properties, which make them suitable for high-temp working environments.
Nylon 6I/6T blends have the potential to offer the highest melting point of the most common nylons. Nylon 6I/6T are also good at retaining shape, avoiding the warpage that other products might encounter. When customized for a more amorphous blend 6I/6T also boasts exceptional transparency. Which makes it a natural fit for packaging alongside its chemical resistance and toughness.
These polyamides have existed since the late 1950’s but saw increased adoption in commercial products in the 1980s, and have gained attention and development largely in the 2000’s as efforts continue to shed weight in automotive manufacturing. 6I/6T are commonly used in applications like underhood automotive and mechanical engineering.
If you’re curious to learn more about Nylon 6I/6T or you’re interested in receiving a sample of NYCOA materials, feel free to reach out to us using our contact form or via our contact information below. With our next article we intend to take a deeper dive into 6I/6T and transparent films, so please make sure to check back for that as well!
About NYCOA
NYCOA (the Nylon Corporation of America) commercially manufactures many grades of specialty engineered nylon, including nylon 6, nylon copolymers, filled and super-tough grades, nylon 6,10 and 6,12, and unique copolymer alternatives to nylon 11 and nylon 12 in our family o NXTamid-L , and our unique flexible PEBA Nylon Ny-Flex. All NYCOA products are made in the USA, manufactured in our ISO plant located in Manchester, NH. NYCOA is dedicated to plastics engineering, plastics innovation, and a consistent quality earned through operational excellence. NYCOA is dedicated to its customers, and produces specialty engineered polymers for industries and partners around the world, and has plastics compounding capabilities to produce a variety of reinforced grades.
Nylon manufactures for many industries and applications, including fasteners, hook and loop, extruded parts, injection molding, athletic accessories, military and transportation applications, foamed components, monofilament, powders, and wire and cable jacketing.
Interested in a sample of our specialty nylon grades, or more information about their chemical resistance and permeability properties? CONTACT US
Contact:
333 Sundial Ave.
Manchester, NH 03103-7230
Tel: 603.627.5150
Fax: 603.627.4499