Making Nylon

The process of making nylon involves the combination of hexamethylene diamine with sebacoyl chloride. This particular procedure is producing what is known as Nylon 6-10.

Materials

• 1,6-hexanediamine in water (> 750 mL)
• 20% NaOH (100 mL)
• 5% sebacoyl chloride in hexanes (> 750 mL)
• 100-mL beaker (90 - 100 beakers)
• 50-mL beaker (10 beakers)
• Plastic dropper (10 droppers)
• Thin wire (1 small spool)
• Two 10-mL graduated cylinders (20 graduated cylinders)
• Paper towels
• Goggles and gloves

Intro for the Students

• Ask them if they know what nylon is.
• Tell them where they’ll find nylon.
• Nylon is one of the first synthetic substances. Ask them what "synthetic" means.
• They are going to make nylon from two chemicals.
• Nylon is a polymer which means each chemical stacks on each other like building blocks to make the strand of nylon.
• They will see the two chemicals merging together to form a strand of nylon in real time.

Procedure

Setup

1. Give each group a clean 100-mL beaker. This beaker will be replaced for each new group.
2. Each group should have a small 50-mL beaker with about 20 mL of 20% NaOH already in it. Place a plastic dropper near or in the beaker. This beaker should last the entire day since each group only uses 2 drops worth.
3. Each group should have enough small pieces of wire (3-4 in.) for each member of the group. The wire should have a small bend at the bottom to help it hook onto the nylon. Usually have to cut the wire from a small spool.
4. Each group should also have two 10-mL graduated cylinders. You will need a way to distinguish between the graduated cylinders. Different colored tape or plastic bases would be the best way to do this. Don’t use markers since the organics will just wipe it off.
5. At the beginning, you will need to pour out the chemicals into the graduated cylinders for them. Do NOT let them measure it out themselves. Into one graduated cylinder, pour 3-4 mL of 1,6-hexanediamine, and to the other pour 3-4 mL of sebacoyl chloride.

Procedure for Students

1. Pour the contents of the graduated cylinder containing the 1,6-hexanediamine into the 100-mL beaker in front of them.
2. Take 2 drops of the 20% NaOH from the small beaker and add it to the 100-mL beaker.
3. SLOWLY pour the contents of the graduated cylinder containing the sebacoyl chloride into the 100-mL beaker in front of them.
4. Before letting the students pull out the nylon, have the students look closely at the beaker for any visual changes. They should see a faint white skin forming on top of the liquid.
5. Have the students use the wires to hook the nylon skin and start SLOWLY pulling it up. Have them try to see how high they can make it go. Let them stand on their chairs but not the table. Have the other members of their group help keep the nylon string going. Be sure to ask the student what’s happening at the surface of the liquid.
6. If the nylon breaks, it will restart if you put some of it back in the liquid and start pulling up again.
7. Feel free to let the students touch the nylon with their hands as long as they have gloves on. Ask them what it feels like.
8. When the liquid is gone, the nylon strand is done. Have the students place the nylon back in the beaker and have them wash their hands/gloves off.

Finishing

1. Place the used 100-mL beakers back in the box and grab new ones.
2. Wipe off any excess nylon residue from the wire.
3. Refill the graduated cylinders with the appropriate chemicals as above.

Notes

• Lead the entire group through the steps. Have each group do the first step and wait until they all have done it before moving on to the next step and so on. Life is much easier that way.
• Don’t worry about telling them the names of the chemicals. Just tell them which color graduated cylinder to pour in.
• The students will always ask if they can step on the table, don’t let them.
• Remind the students not to get the nylon on their skin or clothes.
• Make sure to keep the organics capped at all times especially since they evaporate so quickly.
• Keep a lot of paper towels nearby.
• In the past, we always come close to running out of either 100-mL beakers or organics. Make sure that you have at least 90-100 beakers and no less than 750 mL of each organic.