The ability of a nanoclay to improve the transport and mechanical properties of amorphous polyamide (aPA)‐based films was studied as a function of the draw ratio (DR) and the nanoclay content. The presence of nanoclay did not hinder the drawing ability as the maximum DR of the nanocomposites (NCs) and of the aPA were almost the same (51 for the aPA and from 51 to 55 for the NCs). The high degree of exfoliation and orientation along the drawing direction led to a 30% reduction in the water diffusion coefficient compared with the aPA. Moreover, the already low permeability of the aPA to oxygen was halved. The modulus of elasticity presented unusual increases both in the machine and transverse directions. Both increases of properties were attributed to the planar geometry of the oriented nanoclay sheets. The effects of the presence of nanoclay on the modulus of elasticity in the draw direction in addition to the effects caused by drawing lead to a combined modulus increase of 65% in the highly drawn 6%NC films. The nanoclay also reduced the modulus anisotropy of the films. An increase in either the nanoclay content or the DR causes a decrease in ductility due to both the stress concentrations created by the nanoclay and to the increasing number of chain segments located parallel to the drawing direction. The dimensional stability of the films greatly increased as the addition of 6% nanoclay led to a 70% decrease in creep deformation after 120 h. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
