|
Polyethylene is probably the polymer you see most in
daily life. Polyethylene is the most popular plastic in the world. This
is the polymer that makes grocery bags, shampoo bottles, children's toys,
and even bullet proof vests. For such a versatile material, it has a
very simple structure, the simplest of all commercial polymers. A
molecule of polyethylene is nothing more than a long chain of carbon
atoms, with two hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon atom. That's what
the picture at the top of the page shows, but it might be easier to draw
it like the picture below, only with the chain of carbon atoms being
many thousands of atoms long:
Sometimes it's a little more complicated. Sometimes
some of the carbons, instead of having hydrogens attached to them, will
have long chains of polyethylene attached to them. This is called
branched, or low-density polyethylene, or LDPE. When there is no
branching, it is called linear polyethylene, or HDPE. Linear
polyethylene is much stronger than branched polyethylene, but branched
polyethylene is cheaper and easier to make. |
- The guide to polymer processing technology,
materials, additives & equipment -
Life insurance