abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most

commonly produced plastic.[7] It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic

bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bottles, etc.). As of
2017, over 100 million tonnes of polyethylene resins are being produced annually,
accounting for 34% of the total plastics market. [8][9]

Many kinds of polyethylene are known, with most having the chemical
formula (C2H4)n. PE is usually a mixture of similar polymers of ethylene, with various
values of n. It can be low-density or high-density and many variations thereof. Its
properties can be modified further by crosslinking or copolymerization. All forms are
nontoxic as well as chemically resilient, contributing to polyethylene's popularity as a
multi-use plastic. However, polyethylene's chemical resilience also makes it a long-
lived and decomposition-resistant pollutant when disposed of improperly. [10] Being
a hydrocarbon, polyethylene is colorless to opaque (without impurities or colorants)
and combustible.[11]

History[edit]
Polyethylene was first synthesized by the German chemist Hans von Pechmann,
who prepared it by accident in 1898 while investigating diazomethane.[12][a][13][b] When
his colleagues Eugen Bamberger and Friedrich Tschirner characterized the white,
waxy substance that he had created, they recognized that it contained long −CH 2−
chains and termed it polymethylene.[14]

A pill box presented to a technician at ICI in 1936 made

from the first pound of polyethylene
The first industrially practical polyethylene synthesis (diazomethane is a notoriously
unstable substance that is generally avoided in industrial syntheses) was again
accidentally discovered in 1933 by Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson at the Imperial
Chemical Industries (ICI) works in Northwich, England.[15] Upon applying extremely
high pressure (several hundred atmospheres) to a mixture of ethylene
and benzaldehyde they again produced a white, waxy material. Because the reaction
had been initiated by trace oxygen contamination in their apparatus, the experiment
was difficult to reproduce at first. It was not until 1935 that another ICI
chemist, Michael Perrin, developed this accident into a reproducible high-pressure
synthesis for polyethylene that became the basis for industrial low-density
polyethylene (LDPE) production beginning in 1939. Because polyethylene was found
to have very low-loss properties at very high frequency radio waves, commercial
distribution in Britain was suspended on the outbreak of World War II, secrecy
imposed, and the new process was used to produce insulation for UHF and
SHF coaxial cables of radar sets. During World War II, further research was done on
the ICI process and in 1944, DuPont at Sabine River, Texas, and Union Carbide
Corporation at South Charleston, West Virginia, began large-scale commercial
production under license from ICI.[16][17]

The landmark breakthrough in the commercial production of polyethylene began with

the development of catalysts that promoted the polymerization at mild temperatures
and pressures. The first of these was a catalyst based on chromium
trioxide discovered in 1951 by Robert Banks and J. Paul Hogan at Phillips
Petroleum.[18] In 1953 the German chemist Karl Ziegler developed a catalytic system
based on titanium halides and organoaluminium compounds that worked at even
milder conditions than the Phillips catalyst. The Phillips catalyst is less expensive
and easier to work with, however, and both methods are heavily used industrially. By
the end of the 1950s both the Phillips- and Ziegler-type catalysts were being used for
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) production. In the 1970s, the Ziegler system was
improved by the incorporation of magnesium chloride. Catalytic systems based on
soluble catalysts, the metallocenes, were reported in 1976 by Walter
Kaminsky and Hansjörg Sinn. The Ziegler- and metallocene-based catalysts families
have proven to be very flexible at copolymerizing ethylene with other olefins and
have become the basis for the wide range of polyethylene resins available today,
including very-low-density polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene. Such
resins, in the form of UHMWPE fibers, have (as of 2005) begun to replace aramids in
many high-strength applications.

Properties[edit]
The properties of polyethylene depends strongly on type. The molecular weight,
crosslinking, and presence of comonomers all strongly affect its properties. It is for
this structure-property relation that intense effort has been invested into diverse
kinds of PE.[7][19] LDPE is softer and more transparent than HDPE. For medium- and
high-density polyethylene the melting point is typically in the range 120 to 130 °C
(248 to 266 °F). The melting point for average commercial low-density polyethylene
is typically 105 to 115 °C (221 to 239 °F). These temperatures vary strongly with the
type of polyethylene, but the theoretical upper limit of melting of polyethylene is
reported to be 144 to 146 °C (291 to 295 °F). Combustion typically occurs above
349 °C (660 °F).

Most LDPE, MDPE, and HDPE grades have excellent chemical resistance, meaning
that they are not attacked by strong acids or strong bases and are resistant to gentle
oxidants and reducing agents. Crystalline samples do not dissolve at room
temperature. Polyethylene (other than cross-linked polyethylene) usually can be
dissolved at elevated temperatures in aromatic hydrocarbons such
as toluene or xylene, or in chlorinated solvents such
as trichloroethane or trichlorobenzene.[7]

Polyethylene absorbs almost no water; the gas and water vapour permeability (only
polar gases) is lower than for most plastics. Oxygen, carbon dioxide and flavorings,
on the other hand, can pass it easily.
Polyethylene burns slowly with a blue flame having a yellow tip and gives off an
odour of paraffin (similar to candle flame). The material continues burning on
removal of the flame source and produces a drip. [20]

Polyethylene cannot be imprinted or bonded with adhesives without pretreatment.

High-strength joints are readily achieved with plastic welding.

Electrical[edit]
Polyethylene is a good electrical insulator. It offers good electrical treeing resistance;
however, it becomes easily electrostatically charged (which can be reduced by
additions of graphite, carbon black or antistatic agents). When pure, the dielectric
constant is in the range 2.2 to 2.4 depending on the density [21] and the loss tangent
is very low, making it a good dielectric for building capacitors.

Optical[edit]
Depending on thermal history and film thickness, PE can vary between almost clear
(transparent), milky-opaque (translucent) and opaque. LDPE has the greatest,
LLDPE slightly less, and HDPE the least transparency. Transparency is reduced
by crystallites if they are larger than the wavelength of visible light. [22]

Manufacturing process[edit]
Monomer[edit]

Ethylene (ethene)

The ingredient or monomer is ethylene (IUPAC name ethene),

a gaseous hydrocarbon with the formula C2H4, which can be viewed as a pair
of methylene groups (−CH
2−) connected to each other. Typical specifications for PE purity are <5 ppm for

water, oxygen, and other alkenes contents. Acceptable contaminants include N2,
ethane (common precursor to ethylene), and methane. Ethylene is usually produced
from petrochemical sources, but also is generated by dehydration of ethanol. [7]
Polymerization[edit]