Polyethylene semicrystalline

Polyethylene (PE) is a genetic name for a large family of semicrystalline polymers used mostiy as commodity plastics. PE resins are linear polymers with ethylene molecules as the main building block they are produced either in radical polymerization reactions at high pressures or in catalytic polymerization reactions. Most PE molecules contain branches in thek chains. In very general terms, PE stmcture can be represented by the following formula ... 

The chemical iadustry manufactures a large variety of semicrystalline ethylene copolymers containing small amounts of a-olefins. These copolymers are produced ia catalytic polymerisation reactions and have densities lower than those of ethylene homopolymers known as high density polyethylene (HDPE). Ethylene copolymers produced ia catalytic polymerisation reactions are usually described as linear ethylene polymers, to distiaguish them from ethylene polymers containing long branches which are produced ia radical polymerisation reactions at high pressures (see Olefin POLYMERS, LOWDENSITY polyethylene). 

Fibers are thin threads produced by extruding a molten polymer through small holes in a die, or spinneret. The fibers are then cooled and drawn out, which orients the crystallite regions along the axis of the fiber and adds considerable tensile strength (Figure 31.3). Nylon, Dacron, and polyethylene all have the semicrystalline structure necessary for drawing into oriented fibers. 

The present review is devoted to recent advances, mainly concerning the characterization of semicrystalline polymers, specifically polyethylene (PE) by means of microindentation hardness. The author has chosen to organize the chapter as follows ... 

Poly(f -caprolactone) (PCL), the most representative member of this polyester family, is obtained by the ring-opening polymerization of e-caprolactone. It is a low-7 (60°C), low-Tg (—60°C) semicrystalline polyester that presents mechanical properties resembling those of low-density polyethylene (Table 2.10). 

Semicrystalline polyalkyl terephthalates are opaque due to diffraction of light as it crosses the interface between crystalline and amorphous regions. Amorphous polyethylene terephthalate has a low refractive index, making it appear glass-like in quenched parts. 

For semicrystalline isotropic materials a qualitative measure of crystallinity is directly obtained from the respective WAXS curve. Figure 8.2 demonstrates the phenomenon for polyethylene terephthalate) (PET). The curve in bold, solid line shows a WAXS curve with many reflections. The material is a PET with high crystallinity. The thin solid line at the bottom shows a compressed image of the corresponding scattering curve from a completely amorphous sample. Compared to the semicrystalline material it only shows two very broad peaks - the so-called first and second order of the amorphous halo. 

For a layer-stack material like polyethylene or other semicrystalline polymers the IDF presents clear hints on the shape of the layer thickness distributions, the range of order, and the complexity of the stacking topology. Based on these findings inappropriate models for the arrangement of the layers can be excluded. Finally the remaining suitable models can be formulated and tested by trying to fit the experimental data. 

The above-mentioned results of the SSP of PET can be generally applied to other semicrystalline polyesters, such as poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), poly(tri-methylene terephthalate) PTT), polyethylene naphthalate) (PEN) or any other kind of semicrystalline co-polyester, as a result of their similar reaction behaviors. Most of the studies have been focused on PET and PBT due to their industrial importance. Meanwhile, the popularity of PEN is growing on account of the outstanding properties of this particular polymer. 

Based on the results obtained to date, which have been summarized above for several different semicrystalline polymers— linear and low density (branched) polyethylene, polytrimethylene oxide, polyethylene oxide and cis polyisoprene—it is concluded that the relatively fast segmental motions, as manifested in Tq, are independent of all aspects of the crystallinity and are the same as the completely amorphous polymer at the same temperature. Furthermore, it has previously been shown that for polyethylene, the motions in the non-crystalline regions are essentially the same as those in the melts of low molecular weight ii-alkanes. (17)... 

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