Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T08:52:54.785Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Scientific and Technological Route to the Manufacture of High-Modulus Polyethylene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

Malcolm Mackley
Get access

Extract

Polyethylene has been manufactured commercially for over sixty years. However recently a high-modulus variant has become available. This article describes the background to the development of high-modulus polyethylene and describes the story behind the sequence of scientific discoveries and technological developments that occurred to enable this advance.

Polyethylene was discovered by accident in the 1930s when two scientists working for the ICI chemical company carried out a series of experiments to study the effect of pressure on the reaction kinetics of certain organic liquids and gases. During these experiments, the scientists noted a waxy deposit in their small reaction vessel which marked the birth of one of the world's largest commodity polymers. The crystallographic structure of polyethylene was determined by another ICI industrial scientist who at the time was pioneering x-ray techniques. The crystallography of polyethylene, shown in Figure 1, is relatively simple in that it shows the long CH2-CH2 polymer chains packed in the all “trans” configuration to form an orthorhombic cell.

Polyethylene rapidly developed as a commodity thermoplastic finding application in injection molding, extrusion, and packaging. Its prime material characteristics are its toughness, flexibility, and ease of processing. The stiffness of the polymer for most applications was found to be of the order of 1 GPa, which was similar to other thermoplastics but less than metals such as aluminum at 60 GPa and steel at 210 GPa.

Type
Links of Science & Technology
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 22 , Issue 9 , September 1997 , pp. 47 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Fawcett, E.W., Gibson, R.O., Perrin, M.W., Patten, J.G., and Williams, E.G., British Pattern 471 (1934) p. 590.Google Scholar
2.Bunn, C.W., “The Crystallography Unit Cell of Polyethylene,” Trans. Faraday Soc. 35 (1939) p. 482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Keller, A., “Polymer Crystals,” Rep. Prog. Phys. 31 (2) (1968) p. 623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Pennings, A.J., Van der Mark, J.M.A.A., and Keil, A.M., “Hydrodynamically Included Crystallization of Polymers From Solution,” Kolloid. Z.Z. Polym. 237 (1970) p. 336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Frank, F.C., “The Strength and Stiffness of Polymers,” Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A. 319 (1970) p. 127.Google Scholar
6.Zwijnenburg, A. and Pennings, A.J., “Longitudinal Growth of Crystals From Flowing Solutions II,” Colloid Polym. Sci. 253 (1975) p. 452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Zwijnenburg, A. and Pennings, A.J., “Longitudinal Growth of Crystals From Flowing Solutions III,” Colloid Polym. Sci. 254 (1976) p. 868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Smith, P. and Lemstra, P.J., “Ultra Drawing of High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Cast From Solution,” J. Mater. Sci. 15 (1980) p. 505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Ward, I.M., “The Preparation, Structure and Properties of Ultra High Modulus Flexible Polymers,” Adv. Polym. Sci. 70 (1985) p. 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar