The effect of nanospheres on the permeability of PA6/SiO2 nanocomposites

The permeation of O2, N2 and H2O through polyamide‐6 nanocomposites, prepared with silica nanospheres of different diameters, is reported in this contribution. The mechanical and thermal properties were also evaluated. The nanocomposites were produced by melt mixing the polyamide‐6 with silica nanospheres 12–150 nm in diameter, prepared using standard sol‐gel methods; it was found that the addition of 3 wt% of silica nanospheres to the polyamide‐6 matrix results in an increase in the O2 and N2 permeability. This increase was inversely correlated with the nanosphere diameter but directly correlated with the number of spheres added to the matrix, using the same percentage by weight. The same behaviour was found for the water vapour transmission rate. The increase in permeability is probably due to the formation of voids around the particles, which increases the free volume of the polymer. The addition of the nanospheres, regardless of the sphere diameter, generated an increase of 6% in the Young's modulus, a decrease of 65% in the elongation at break and a 24% decrease in the percentage of crystallinity. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry The addition of silica nanospheres, with different diameter, increases the permeability of polyamide‐6. This increase is correlated with the number of spheres added to the matrix rather than sphere diameter.