Nylon is an important class of synthetic polymers used in a variety of products. Nylon polymers are aliphatic polyamides that are classified in two groups according to their composition. These are the Ω-aminocarboxylic acid-type and the diamine-dicarboxylic acid-type. The Ω-aminocarboxylic acid-types consist of a single amine group attached to a carbonyl group. The diamine-dicarboxylic acid-types consist of two amine groups attached to a repeating dicarbonyl group. The thermal degradation products of the two nylon categories are well established [1-3].
Nylon is used in the manufacture of fibers for clothing, stockings, and military equipment as well as in products that contain fine threads, like toothbrushes, paint brushes, and fishing line. Further, nylon resin is used in plastics for packaging and medical supplies.
This work will show pyrolysis fragmentation patterns for seven aliphatic polyamide standards along with the analysis of a few products containing some of these polymeric materials. The GERSTEL pyrolyzer (PYRO) employed in smart ramped pyrolysis (SRP) mode in combination with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) was used for the analysis. The use of SRP mode eliminates the need for pyrolysis temperature optimization, greatly reducing the time needed to obtain results, especially when determining unknown constituents and polymer mixtures.
