The isothermal crystallization kinetics was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry for high-flow nylon 6, which was prepared with the mother salt of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers and p-phthalic acid, end capping agent and ε-caprolactam by in situ polymerization. The Avrami equation has been adopted to study the crystallization kinetics. Comparing with pure nylon 6, the high-flow nylon 6 has lower crystallization rate, which varies with the generation and content of PAMAM units in nylon 6 matrix. The traditional analysis indicates that the values of Avrami parameters calculated from the half time of crystallization might be more in agreement with the actual crystallization mechanism than the parameters determined from the Avrami plots. The n values of the high-flow nylon 6 range between 2.1 and 2.4, meaning the crystallization of the high-flow nylon 6 is a two-dimensional growth process. The activation energies of the high-flow nylon 6, which were determined by Arrhenius’ method, range between -293 kJ/mol and -382 kJ/mol. The activation energies decrease with the increase in the generation of PAMAM units, but increase with the increase in the content of PAMAM units in nylon 6 matrix.
