What is Nylon?

There exists a certain type of polymer that, due to certain properties (i.e., easily combined with dyes, high tensile resistance, strong, tough, and moth and mildew resistant), is very useful in the textile industry. One of the most important of these is nylon.

 

Nylon is one of the most common polymers used as a fiber and belongs to the group of polyamides (designated by the acronym “PA”) that are characterized by their amide groups in the primary chain.

 

In its polymer are found repeating units of amide bonded to each other. The monomer is shown below, which reacts to form long polymer chains:

The amide bond is formed from an amine and a carbonyl group. Nylon 6 is synthesized from polycaprolactam and nylon 6.6 from adipic acids.

 

Nylon is highly slippery, resistant to chemicals, and resists wear very well even in dry applications, so it ages very little if used as a bearing.

 

Furthermore, since it is a thermoplastic polymer, it is easy to shape by casting.

 

Brand names for nylon include: Nylon-6, Polyamide-6, Nylatron-6, Akulon-6, Ultramid-B,-B Durethan, Tecam-6, ERTALON-6 SA, and Amidan-6. The numbers added to the names of nylon generally refer to the number of units of "CH" between the reactive ends and the monomer.

 

Nylon can take many forms but the two best known are rigid and fiber. Rigid forms are used to make transmission parts, such as moving wheels of all types (e.g., conventional, etc.), screws, machine parts, appliance parts, tools and household utensils, etc. As a fiber, because of its ability to form threads, nylon is used in the textile industry and in thread to make stockings, rope, textiles and other flexible elements.

 

There are various types of nylon, but in actuality the most important are Nylon 6 and Nylon 6.6.

 

Nylon 6, or polycaprolactone, is formed by the polymerization of the ring opening of caprolactam. In this process, the band of the peptide without the caprolactone molecule is broken, with the active groups on each side; two new bands are reformed as the monomer becomes part of the polymer chain. In this polymer, all amide bands are in the same direction, but this does not cause a greater divergence from the properties of nylon 6.6.

 

Nylon 6, or polycaprolactone, is formed by the polymerization of the ring opening of caprolactoma. In this process, the peptide band without the caprolactoma molecule is broken, with the active groups on each side. Two new bands are reformed as the monomer becomes part of the polymer chain. In this polymer, all amide bands are in the same direction, but this does not much different than the properties of nylon 6.6.

 

Nylon 6.6, also called nylon 66, is obtained by the polycondensation of hexamethylenediamine (6 carbon atoms) and adipic acid (6 carbon atoms). The units of diacid and diamine alternate in the polymer chain.

 

In general, the characteristics of nylon are:

 

 

The main use of nylon is fabric, due to its elastic, durable, and mothproof qualities, and also due to its permanent press quality. It is used in the manufacture of socks, and woven and knitted fabrics.

 

The general uses of nylon include:

 

 

Although nylon's use is primarily in the textile industry, it also has numerous applications in engineering, thanks to the great strength of this material with chemicals, solvents and abrasion. Its high level of hardness and toughness makes it an ideal material for use on parts that are subject to heavy wear, such as bearings, gears, bearings, tires (especially for bicycles.)

In 1930 Wallace Hume Carothers and Dr. Julian Hill, working in the laboratories of the DuPont chemical company in Wilmington, Delaware, discovered a polymer with which highly resistant strands could be made. When Carothers passed away, DuPont retained the patent. This discovery was the first polyamide 6.6, which later was called Nylon. The material was introduced in 1938, and the first product made of nylon sold was a toothbrush with nylon bristles, introduced on February 24, 1938. The invention that revolutionized nylon, however, was the manufacture of women's stockings, called “nylons”, which went on sale on May 15, 1940, and became available in Europe in 1945.

 

Although there is no evidence for the popular belief that "nylon" is a contraction of "NY" (New York) and "Lon" (London), the two cities were where the material was manufactured for the first time. In 1940, John W. Eckelberry of DuPont stated that the letters "nyl" are arbitrary and the "on" was copied from the names of other fibers such as cotton and rayon. Later, a publication of DuPont stated that the name was originally "No-Run" ("run" in this case meaning "unravel"), but was modified to make the name sound better.

 

If you would like to contact companies that manufacture and distribute nylon, click here

 

Sources and additional information:

 

http://www.educar.org/inventos/nylon.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon

http://html.rincondelvago.com/plasticos-en-la-industria-alimentaria.html

http://html.rincondelvago.com/ciencia-de-los-materiales_2.html