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The nylon rope trick is a
File:Nylon.jpg, Nylon-66
File:Nailoni süntees 1.JPG, The nylon is pink because the solution has an indicator dye in it.
File:Nailoni süntees 2.JPG
File:Nailoni süntees 3.JPG, A nylon strand, synthesised by children at XLAB international science camp 2012 August
The nylon rope trick is a scientific demonstration
A scientific demonstration is a procedure carried out for the purposes of demonstrating scientific principles, rather than for hypothesis testing or knowledge gathering (although they may originally have been carried out for these purposes).
Most ...
that illustrates some of the fundamental chemical principles of step-growth polymerization and provides students and other observers with a hands-on demonstration of the preparation of a synthetic polymer.
The nylon rope trick typically makes use of a water solution of an aliphatic diamine with a solution of an aliphatic diacid chloride in a solvent that does not dissolve in water, yielding a synthetic polyamide of the nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...
-type. Nylon 610 is commonly used, in which hexamethylene diamine
Hexamethylenediamine is the organic compound with the formula H2N(CH2)6NH2. The molecule is a diamine, consisting of a hexamethylene hydrocarbon chain terminated with amine functional groups. The colorless solid (yellowish for some commercial sam ...
is dissolved in water to a concentration of about 0.40 moles / deciliter. A solution of sebacoyl chloride in cyclohexane (0.15 moles / deciliter concentration) is then layered on top of the water solution, the reaction typically being conducted in a beaker. The solution is not agitated; instead the nylon 610 polymer forms as a flexible film at the interface of the water and cyclohexane layers, in an example of an interfacial polymerization. The experimentalist grasps the polymer film, withdrawing it from the reaction vessel, forming a filament or rope, and collecting it on a rotating rod above the reaction vessel. New polymer forms at the interface as fresh surfaces of the cyclohexane layer and the water layer form. In this way, the demonstration yields a continuous rope that is collected on the rotating rod. Nylon 66
Nylon 66 (loosely written nylon 6-6, nylon 6/6, nylon 6,6, or nylon 6:6) is a type of polyamide or nylon. It, and nylon 6, are the two most common for textile and plastic industries. Nylon 66 is made of two monomers each containing 6 carbon atoms, ...
can also be produced at laboratory scale in this way.
Representative procedures and equipment lists for conducting the nylon rope trick demonstration are available in literature procedures.
The nylon rope trick was developed as a scientific demonstration by American chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
Stephanie Kwolek, who later invented Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...
aramid
Aramid fibers, short for aromatic polyamide, are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic-rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in marine cordage, ma ...
.
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References
{{Reflist Chemistry classroom experiments Polymerization reactions