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Published September 2012 | Supplemental Material + Published
Journal Article Open

Direct Route to Colloidal UHMWPE by Including LLDPE in Solution during Homogeneous Polymerization of Ethylene

Abstract

The usual aggregation and precipitation driven by crystallization of nascent PE during homogeneous polymerization of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is inhibited by including linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) in the catalyst solution prior to addition of ethylene monomer. Co-crystallization of newly formed PE and dissolved LLDPE creates a polymer brush on the fold surfaces of the nascent crystallites. Consequently, aggregation is inhibited by steric stabilization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show that individual lamellae (approximately 10–20 nm thick) typically have lateral dimensions of 0.5 μm × 3.5 μm and form "bowtie" shaped stacks that are approximately 200–500 nm thick. This simple method for stabilizing nascent crystals against precipitation is enabling fundamental studies of their metastable "disentangled" state and may open scalable routes to compounding UHMWPE.

Additional Information

© 2012 American Chemical Society. Received: July 19, 2012. Accepted: August 17, 2012. Published: August 24, 2012. A.A. and J.A.K. acknowledge funding provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant DMR-0710662-Materials World Network.

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Supplemental Material - mz300369x_si_001.pdf

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August 19, 2023
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