Copolyamides, based on 1,12-dodecanedicarboxylic acid and different ratios of 1,2-ethylenediamine and piperazine, i.e., PA2,14-co-pip,14 as well as the homopolymers PA2,14 and PApip,14 are studied. Incorporation of the piperazine component in the homopolymer PA2,14 reduces the number of hydrogen bonds. This provides a unique opportunity to investigate the influence of hydrogen bonding on the origin of the Brill transition and chain mobility within polymer crystals. Time-resolved conformational, structural, and morphological changes during heating are followed by FTIR spectroscopy, WAXD, and SAXS. The findings are that from 0 to 62 mol % of piperazine the Brill transition occurs in the same temperature region. The transformation is triggered by the conformational changes in the methylene sequences of the main chain, followed by twisting in the methylene sequences next to the amide group. This results in enhanced chain mobility along the c-axis, causing lamellar thickening. For 80 mol % of piperazine and higher, no Brill transition is observed. However, conformational changes in the methylene sequences of the main chain occurs, triggering lamellar thickening.

The effects of the partial substitution of 1,4‐disubstituted cyclohexane monomers for linear aliphatic monomers in polyamides are discussed. More specifically, the relation between the stereochemistry of the cycloaliphatic residues and the thermal properties [melting temperature (Tm) and crystallization temperature (Tcr)] was investigated. For this purpose, two different types of copolyamides were synthesized: in polyamides 12.6, the adipic acid residues were partially replaced by cis/trans‐1,4‐cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (1,4‐CHDA), whereas in polyamides 4.14, the 1,4‐diaminobutane residues were partially substituted with cis/trans‐1,4‐diaminocyclohexane (1,4‐DACH). For both systems, increasing the degree of substitution of cycloaliphatic residues for linear aliphatic residues resulted in a rise of both Tm and Tcr. This points to the isomorphous crystallization of the linear and cycloaliphatic residues. In contrast to the use of 1,4‐DACH as a comonomer, 1,4‐CHDA residues showed isomerization upon thermal treatment of the polyamides. This isomerization of the cyclohexane residues influenced the thermal properties of the copolyamides. The use of a nonisomerizing cis–trans mixture of 1,4‐DACH exhibited the large influence of the stereochemistry of the cycloaliphatic residues on the Tm of the copolyamides. For both the 1,4‐CHDA‐ and 1,4‐DACH‐based copolyamides, differential scanning calorimetry analysis revealed that recrystallization occurs during melting. This exothermal effect becomes less pronounced with an increasing content of rigid cycloaliphatic residues. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1962–1971, 2002

To study the influence of the stereochemistry on the possibility of cocrystallization of linear and cyclic aliphatic residues in copolyamides, a series of copolyamides 12.6/12.1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid with variable compositions were synthesized. From solid-state NMR studies it could be deduced that cis-1,4-CHDA is present in the amorphous regions whereas the trans residues are located in both the crystalline and the amorphous phase. WAXD patterns confirm the presence of trans-1,4-CHDA inside the crystals and reveal that the cycloaliphatic ring is most likely oriented in a direction perpendicular to the crystal sheets that contain the hydrogen bonds. As a result, the intersheet distance is increased compared to that of polyamide 12.6. Furthermore, the rings prevent the genesis of a pseudohexagonal phase above the Brill temperature. Exceptionally, crossing rather than merging of the (100) and the combined (010)−(110) WAXD reflections is observed with increasing temperature, indicating that the intersheet distances increase and become larger than the interchain distances within the hydrogen-bonded sheets before the crystals start to melt. Incorporation of trans-1,4-CHDA residues into polyamide 12.6 leads to higher melting temperatures, pointing at cocrystallization in terms of a solid solution rather than as defects. In contrast, a slight melting point depression is observed for copolymers with predominately cis-1,4-CHDA residues.