Formation of Commercial Nylon 6 / Ring Opening Procedure - Lab | PSC 341, Lab Reports of Chemistry

Download Formation of Commercial Nylon 6 / Ring Opening Procedure - Lab | PSC 341 and more Lab Reports Chemistry in PDF only on Docsity! Formation of Commercial Nylon 6 / Ring Opening Procedure Sodium hydride is extremely moisture sensitive. It will react quickly with water to release hydrogen gas. When handling NaH: Wear gloves, discard after this use. Do not allow it to come into contact with water, moisture, sweat, skin, etc... Wear a lab coat. And, as always wear safety goggles. Remember: HOT glassware looks just like COLD glassware!! Materials 5 g ε-Caprolactam 0.3 g Polyethyleneglycol 3 - 5 drops of N-Acetylcaprolactam 0.05 g Sodium Hydride Procedure 1. Put the caprolactam, polyoxyethylene and N-acetylcaprolactam in a test tube. 2. Heat the mixture above a one-inch flame while moving the test tube in and out of the flame. Do not heat too long, just enough to melt! Remember to always point the test tube away from yourself and others when heating in this manner…no one wants molten caprolactam on their skin!! 3. When the mixture in the tube has melted, add the sodium hydride to the reaction tube. Make sure that all of the sodium hydride has reacted by carefully tilting the test tube to contact any powder that might be clinging to the side. 4. Heat this mixture for an additional 2-4 minutes until there is an apparent increase in melt viscosity. Do not heat too long and keep the tube moving to ensure even heating! 5. The reaction should be done about the time the reaction mixture starts to reflux, or simmer. You will know it has polymerized because the mixture will become much more viscous. If polymerization does not occur within several minutes, cool to just above the solidification temperature, add more NaH, and reheat. 6. You may be able to pull fibers from the molten polymer by placing a glass stir rod in the tube and rapidly drawing out the solidifying material.