A micro-FTIR measurement has been conducted to explore the molecular orientation of amorphous phase in the nylon 6/clay nanocomposite at large strain. Our results indicate that the molecular orientation in such a nanocomposite during stretching is lower than that observed for the pure nylon 6 counterpart, which is further evidenced by the true stress-strain dependence. The relaxation of the molecular network, resulted from the destruction of gamma-crystals in part and mostly from microvoding (demonstrated by volume dilatation and 2D-SAXS measurements), should be responsible for the suppressed molecular orientation in the nylon 6/clay nanocomposite. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 514-519, 2010