Polyethylene as a Base of Blend Materials

The following properties can be claimed to justify the use of polyethyl-enes as the base for nanocomposite materials  

The structure can be modified, leading to crosslinked polyethylene. Polyethylenes are thermoplastics, i. e., they can be processed repeatedly. As the behaviour of polyethylene at high temperature is worse than at room temperature, the structure should be modified to improve its response under such conditions. Croslinking leads to formation of three dimensional structures, which properties are maintained at high temperatures but also crosslinking can deeply modify polyethylene properties from thermoplastic to thermoset [2]. 

Blends can be formed with copolymers. Addition of EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), a copolymer of vinyl acetate (VA) and ethylene, improves some of the properties of polyethylene. The concentration of VA in the final blend controls the crystallinity of PE an increase in VA concentration decreases the crystallinity of PE, providing a larger flexibility and transparency. In the same way, due to the polarity of the acetoxo side chains, an increase in VA concentration 

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