Nylon 6 (PA6) is a widely used engineering plastic. However, its poor toughness limits its applications. Therefore, toughening PA6 has been a point of interest in the field of PA6 modification. Generally, toughening a plastic with an elastomer reduces the stiffness and heat distortion temperature of the matrix. It has been an important goal of polymer researchers to find a way of toughening PA6 without reductions in its stiffness and heat distortion temperature. In this study, a new kind of material-an ultrafine, fully vulcanized acrylate powdered rubber (UFAPR)-was used to toughen PA6 through melt blending. The influence of UFAPR on the isothermal crystallization kinetics and nonisothermal crystallization behavior of PA was studied with differential scanning calorimetry. The results showed that, with the addition of a little UFAPR, the crystallization rate of PA could be increased, the crystallization temperature could be augmented, and the crystal size distribution of the crystal grain could be narrowed. The changes in the free energy perpendicular to the crystal nucleus were consistent with the results of an Avrami equation according to the theory of Hoffman. The unit surface free energy of the radially developing crystal spherulites decreased with an increasing amount of UFAPR. The results for the mechanical properties, crystalline structure, and crystallization kinetics of PA6/UFAPR composites showed that UFAPR was not only a good toughening agent for PA6 but also an excellent nucleation agent for PA6. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.