Spinning ultra high-modulus polyethylene

De Gennes scaling concepts for polymer solutions and melts and the concept of reptation movement of polymer chains in melts Pennings discovery of chain extension and shish-kebab formation in stirred solutions of very high MW polyethylene this eventually led to the ultra-high modulus gel-spinning process of polyethylene... 

Extended-chain polyethylene fiber became available commercially in 1984 when DSM, a Dutch firm in the Netherlands, introduced Dyneema , and Mitsui Petrochemicals in Japan announced Tekmilon . Allied Signal of the United States entered the field in 1985 when it introduced Spectra fibers. These materials are characterized by very high strength and modulus, which are achieved by the use of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene spun by the gel spinning method into fibers having extended-chain structures and near perfect orientation. 

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