Ultra-high molecular weight polypropylene (UHMWPP): Synthesis and fiber processing

Document Type : Original research

Authors

1 Polymer Synthesis & Catalysis Division, Reliance Research & Development Centre, RCP, Reliance Industries Limited, Ghansoli-400701, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

2 E-Spin Nanotech Pvt. Ltd., IIT Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Ultra-high molecular weight polyolefin (UHMWPO) has enormous potential applications due to their excellent mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural modulus, toughness and outstanding chemical resistance. But the processing of polyolefin, in particular, UHMWPO fibers cannot be processed by conventional methods due to its very high melt viscosity. In this work, we synthesized isotactic ultra-high molecular weight polypropylene (UHMWPP) resin and studied the processability of UHMWPP fibers using gel spinning and investigated physicomechanical properties. UHMWPP gel was made at various concentrations in decalin solvent at 150°C to produce consistent spinning dope solutions. The 7 wt.% concentration of UHMWPP was deemed best for fiber creation, compared to 3 wt.% and 5 wt.%. A rheological time sweep was done to ensure the gel's stability at 170°C before the spinning process. The UHMWPP's gelation and fiber formation were studied by tweaking the gel concentration and adjusting the processing temperature. The resulting UHMWPP monofilament had a measure of 220-250 denier. The hot stretched fibers were analyzed with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to understand the surface morphology of the fibers. The crystal morphology of UHMWPP fibers was measured with wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) and DSC. The X-ray measurement of hot stretched UHMWPP fibers showed crystalline peaks compared to those without stretched fibers.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. Hufenus R, Yan Y, Dauner M, Kikutani T (2020) Melt-spun fibers for textile applications. Materials 13: 4298 [CrossRef]
  2. Correia Diogo A (2015) Polymers in building and construction. In: Materials for construction and civil engineering: Science, processing, and design. Ed: MC Gonçalves, F Margarido, Springer International Publishing, Cham, 447- 499
  3. Trivedi PM, Gupta VK (2021) Progress in MgCl2 supported Ziegler-Natta catalyzed polyolefin products and applications. J Polym Res 28: 45 [CrossRef]
  4. Rajak DK, Wagh PH, Linul E (2022) A review on synthetic fibers for polymer matrix composites: Performance, failure modes and applications. Materials (Basel) 15: 4790 [CrossRef]
  5. Bhat G, Kandagor V (2014) Synthetic polymer fibers and their processing requirements. In: Advances in filament yarn spinning of textiles and polymers. Ed: D Zhang, Woodhead Publishing, 3-30
  6. Huang Y-F, Xu J-Z, Zhang Z-C, Xu L, Li L-B, Li J-F, Li Z-M (2017) Melt processing and structural manipulation of highly linear disentangled ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene. Chem Eng J 315: 132-141 [CrossRef]
  7. Kim YK (2017) The use of polyolefins in industrial and medical applications. In: Polyolefin fibres (second edition), Ed: SCO Ugbolue, Woodhead Publishing, 135-155
  8. Van Dingenen J (2001) Gel-spun high-performance polyethylene fibres. In: High-Performance Fibres, ch.3, ed: Hearle JWS, Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles 62-92 [CrossRef]
  9. Zhang H, Liang Y (2018) Extrusion processing of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. In: Extrusion of metals, polymers and food products, 165-179
  10. Roiron C, Lainé E, Grandidier J-C, Garois N, Vix-Guterl C (2021) A review of the mechanical and physical properties of polyethylene fibers. Textiles 1: 86-151 [CrossRef]
  11. Yang Z, Shi J, Pan X, Liu B, He X (2020) Effects of different ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene contents on the formation and evolution of hierarchical crystal structure of high-density polyethylene/ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene blend fibers. J Polym Sci 58: 2278-2291 [CrossRef]
  12. Sawatari C, Matsuo M (1989) Morphological and mechanical properties of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene/ low-molecular-weight polyethylene blend films produced by gelation/ crystallization from solutions. Polymer 30: 1603-1614 [CrossRef]
  13. Yufeng Z, Changfa X, Guangxia J, Shulin A (1999) Study on gel-spinning process of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 670-675 [CrossRef]
  14. Rajput AW, Aleem AU, Arain FA (2014) An environmentally friendly process for the preparation of UHMWPE as-spun fibres. Int J Polym Sci 2014: 480149 [CrossRef]
  15. Nayak P, Ghosh AK, Bhatnagar N (2023) Enhancement of electrospun UHMWPE fiberperformance through post-processing treatment. J Appl Polym Sci 140: e54221[CrossRef]
  16. Yang X, Zhang Z, Xiang Y, Sun Q, Xia Y, Xiong Z (2023) Superior enhancement of the UHMWPE fiber/epoxy interface through the combination of plasma treatment and polypyrrole in-situ grown fibers. Polymers 15: 2265 [CrossRef]
  17. Han L, Cai H, Chen X, Zheng C, Guo W (2020) Study of UHMWPE fiber surface modification and the properties of UHMWPE/epoxy composite. Polymers 12: 521 [CrossRef]
  18. Wang JH, Guo Y, Su YX, Xu XY, Duan TT, Wang LL, Yan SQ, Ruan GG, Xin PX, Wang L, Li N, Huang YS, Zheng W (2023) New trends in ballistic UHMWPE UD fabric. J Phys Conf Ser 2460: 012105 [CrossRef]
  19. Berger L, Kausch HH, Plummer CJG (2003) Structure and deformation mechanisms in UHMWPE-fibres. Polymer 44: 5877-5884 [CrossRef]
  20. Aguiar VO, Maru MM, Soares IT, Kapps V, Almeida CM, Perez G, Archanjo BS, Pita VJRR, Marques MDFV (2022) Effect of incorporating multi-walled carbon nanotube and graphene in UHMWPE matrix on the enhancement of thermal and mechanical properties. J Mater Sci 57: 21104-21116 [CrossRef]
  21. Zhang Z, Jiang G, Wu Y, Kong F, Huang J (2018) Surface functional modification of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber by atom transfer radical polymerization. Appl Surf Sci 427: 410-415 [CrossRef]
  22. Kristiansen M, Tervoort T, Smith P (2003) Synergistic gelation of solutions of isotactic polypropylene and bis-(3, 4-dimethyl benzylidene) sorbitol and its use in gel-processing. Polymer 44: 5885-5891 [CrossRef]
  23. Gupta V, Singh S, Makwana U, Joseph J, Singala K, Rajesh S, Patel V, Yadav M, Singh G, Reliance Industries Ltd (2014) Spheroidal particles for olefin polymerization catalyst. United States patent US 8,633,124
  24. Trivedi PM, Gocher CP, Balachandran V, Gupta VK (2023) Insight of polypropylene synthesis with high performance multidentate internal donor catalyst system. J Appl Polym Sci 140: e53609 [CrossRef]
  25. Semikolenova NV, Panchenko VN, Matsko MA, Zakharov VA (2022) Regulation of molecular weight, molecular weight distribution and branching distribution in polyethylene, produced by supported catalysts bearing bis(imino) pyridyl fe(ii) and n,n-α-diimine ni(ii) complexes. Polyolefins J 9: 103-116 [CrossRef]
  26. Tian Y, Zhu C, Gong J, Ma J, Xu J (2015) Transition from shish-kebab to fibrillar crystals during ultra-high hot stretching of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers: In situ small and wide angle X-ray scattering studies. Eur Polym J 73: 127-136 [CrossRef]
  27. Smith P, Lemstra PJ (1979) Ultrahigh-strength polyethylene filaments by solution spinning/ drawing, 2. Influence of solvent on the drawability. Makromol Chem 180: 2983-2986 [CrossRef]
  28. Ran S, Zong X, Fang D, Hsiao BS, Chu B, Phillips RA (2001) Structural and morphological studies of isotactic polypropylene fibers during heat/draw deformation by in-situ synchrotron SAXS/WAXD. Macromolecules 34: 2569-2578 [CrossRef]
  29. Xu H, An M, Lv Y, Zhang L, Wang Z (2017) Structural development of gel-spinning UHMWPE fibers through industrial hot-drawing process analyzed by small/wide-angle X-ray scattering. Polym Bull 74: 721-736 [CrossRef]
  30. Smook J, Pennings AJ (1983) Preparation of ultra-high strength polyethylene fibres by gel-spinning/hot-drawing at high spinning rates. Polym Bull 9: 75-80 [CrossRef]