Monitoring of small-scale anionic polymerization of caprolactam; a method to be used in an additive manufacturing process

作者：Khodabakhshi Khosrow; Gilbert Marianne; Dickens Philip^*

来源：Polymers for Advanced Technologies, 2013, 24(5): 503-510.

DOI：10.1002/pat.3112

• ring opening polymerization
• polyamides
• DSC
• optical microscopy
• inkjetting

The anionic polymerization of caprolactam using small quantities of reactants was investigated as part of a project aimed at producing polyamide parts by additive manufacturing. Various methods were used to monitor the polymerization and crystallization processes. Drop on drop small-scale polymerization was carried out on a hot surface and monitored by Fourier transform infrared, which showed that PA6 had been polymerized successfully. PA6 synthesis was carried out in a differential scanning calorimetry cell to monitor the exothermic and endothermic processes during polymerization, and the processes were also observed by hot stage microscopy. It was found that polymerization and crystallization occurred simultaneously at slow heating rates. The amount of crystallinity produced during polymerization decreased as the heating rate increased.

• 出版日期2013-5