Carothers’ polyamide — stockings, tyre cord, climbing rope and a melt-drip fire personality.
Also called: polyamide 6 · PA66 · nylon filament
Nylon is one of 32 materials in this atlas, grouped under textiles: history, structure, measured properties, process routes, uses, safety and market — not a product catalogue.
Scores compare Nylon with the rest of the atlas on strength, heat, fire behaviour, insulation, workability and circularity. They are editorial, not certificates.
Seven chapters follow. Fire and insulation claims name test families (Euroclass, ASTM E84, ISO 5660, KS F) rather than inventing a single safety number.
Deep introduction
Nylon (PA6 / PA66) is a family of grades whose density ~1.14 g/cm³, heat band PA6 ~220 °C; PA66 ~260 °C, and fire letter combustible, melt-drip.
Nylon is sold as grades, not as a single substance. Chemistry PA6 / PA66, density ~1.14 g/cm³, heat band PA6 ~220 °C; PA66 ~260 °C.
This atlas treats Nylon as a system: mill route, coatings, tests and the cavity it sits in.
Conductivity note: low. Insulation score 30/100 is relative to 32 entries — metals lose, VIPs and aerogels win.
Fire letter in editorial use: combustible, melt-drip. Do not equate A1 with “safe in a blaze” or E with “illegal”. Assemblies decide.
Origin: DuPont 1935–38, United States. The process chapter follows feedstock → conversion → forming → finish → install.
Uses span buildings to defence / safety. Pairings matter: polyester.
Producers below are landmarks, not an endorsement ranking. Prices are bands, not live quotes.
Circularity mark 32/100. Ask which scrap, which certificate, which year.
United States · 1935
Wallace Carothers is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
United States · 1939
Nylon stockings is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
Allied · WWII
Parachute is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
Global · 20th c.–
PA6 fishing net is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
Europe · 1960s–
Climbing rope kernmantle is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
Global · 1990s–
Airbag cushion is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
Global · 1950s–
Tyre cord is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
United States · 1938
Toothbrush bristle is a reference point in the public image of Nylon.
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Closest neighbours on the six atlas axes — strength, heat, fire, insulation, workability and circularity.
The dominant apparel polymer — bottle-grade PET spun into staple that dries fast and sheds microfibres.
Overall 49 🛞Cis-1,4-polyisoprene from Hevea — tyres still drink most of the world’s latex.
Overall 44 🦋A kilometre-class animal filament — luxury cloth, sutures and a template for bio-inspired fibres.
Overall 41 🧴The world’s volume plastic — bags, bottles, pipes and the UHMWPE cousin in medical and ballistic fibre.
Overall 40Seed-hair cellulose that dressed the industrial revolution — still the comfort fibre of daily wear.
Overall 44 🐑Crimped keratin that traps still air — suiting, carpets and a quietly decent fire story among apparel fibres.
Overall 53 🦋A kilometre-class animal filament — luxury cloth, sutures and a template for bio-inspired fibres.
Overall 41 🎽The dominant apparel polymer — bottle-grade PET spun into staple that dries fast and sheds microfibres.
Overall 49 🦺Aromatic polyamide pulps and filaments — ballistic packs, hot-gas filtration and asbestos replacement.
Overall 62