Optimization of the conditions of ethylene polymerization into reactor powders of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene suitable for solid-phase formation into oriented ultra-high-strength and ultra-high-modulus film yarns

Abstract

This study is aimed at searching for approaches to improve conditions of ethylene polymerization into specific reactor powders of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene with special morphology and structure that make the reactor powders capable of being processed from the solid phase without using solvents into ultra-high-strength and ultra-high-modulus articles. The study showed the possibility of alleviating too stringent requirements for temperature, ethylene pressure, and polymerization duration. The correlation between the molecular and density characteristics of the obtained reactor powders and features of solid-state processing was refined, and so was the choice of the optimal catalytic systems working best under the new polymerization conditions.