Crosslinked polyethylene: A review on the crosslinking techniques, manufacturing methods, applications, and recycling

One of the most used resins in the plastics industry is polyethylene (PE). Although PE has good impact resistance and ductility, its low maximum use temperature and mechanical strength limit some commercial development, especially for load‐bearing applications. To get better overall performances, cr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPolymer engineering and science Vol. 62; no. 8; pp. 2376 - 2401
Main Authors Ahmad, Hibal, Rodrigue, Denis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.08.2022
Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Cross-linked polyethylene
Crosslinked polymers
Crosslinking
Impact resistance
Methods
Plastics industry
Polyethylene
Polymers
processing
Production methods
properties
Recycling
Structure
Thermodynamic properties
Waste management
Canada
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Summary:One of the most used resins in the plastics industry is polyethylene (PE). Although PE has good impact resistance and ductility, its low maximum use temperature and mechanical strength limit some commercial development, especially for load‐bearing applications. To get better overall performances, crosslinking is performed to improve the chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties of PE. Although PE can be crosslinked by using various chemical and physical methods, this makes the resulting polymers more difficult to recycle since a three‐dimensional (3D) network is created. In this review, we first describe the different crosslinking techniques for PE to manufacture crosslinked PE (XLPE) parts. Then, as more than half of the XLPE‐based products are disposed directly after use, we present several options to reuse and recycle these products to overcome this environmental issue and find a sustainable solution. A focus is made on mechanical recycling and de‐crosslinking techniques for XLPE to generate recycled‐XLPE (r‐XLPE). Finally, a conclusion is presented on the current situation and research gaps that must be filled by future works. Crosslinked polyethylene can be produced via different techniques. Each method has a direct effect on the final structure which will influence the technology to recycle the material after its end of life.
Bibliography:Funding information
Association of rotational molders
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ISSN:0032-3888
1548-2634
DOI:10.1002/pen.26049