plyethene Essays - Polymer Chemistry, Polyethylene, Addition Polymer

Polyethylene Polyethylene is a polymer consisting of long chains of the monomer ethylene (IUPAC name ethene). The recommended scientific name 'polyethene' is systematically derived from the scientific name of the monomer. In certain circumstances it is useful to use a structure?based nomenclature. In such cases IUPAC recommends poly(methylene). The difference is due to the 'opening up' of the monomer's double bond upon polymerisation. In the polymer industry the name is sometimes shortened to PE, in a manner similar to that by which other polymers like polypropylene and polystyrene are shortened to PP and PS, respectively. In the United Kingdom the polymer is commonly called polythene, although this is not recognised scientifically. The ethene molecule (known almost universally by its common name ethylene), C2H4 is CH2=CH2, Two CH2 groups connected by a double bond. Polyethylene is created through polymerization of ethene. It can be produced through radical polymerization, anionic addition polymerization, ion coordination polymerization or cationic addition polymerization. This is because ethene does not have any substituent groups that influence the stability of the propagation head of the polymer. Each of these methods results in a different type of polyethylene. Polyethylene can be produced by various methods: Radical polymerization, anionic addition polymerization, cationic addition polymerization, or ion coordination polymerization. Each of these methods results in a different type of polyethylene. Some types of polyethylene are made by copolymerization of ethylene with short-chain alpha-olefins, such as 1-butene, 1-hexene, and 1-octene.