Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of calcium stearate and a fluoroelastomer on the flowability of UHMWPE/HDPE composites and the underlying mechanism

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Polymer Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The melt viscosity of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is extremely high, rendering its processing exteremely difficult; thus, flow modification is required to improve its flow properties. In this study, calcium stearate (CaSt) and a fluoroelastomer (FP) were used as flow modifiers to improve the flow properties of UHMWPE. The experimental results revealed that both lubricants improved the flowability of UHMWPE: CaSt improved the melt flow index of UHMWPE, while the FP had no significant effect on the melt flow index but significantly reduced the torque. The underlying mechanisms for the above effects were investigated in terms of the structure–property relationships. Rheological and dynamic mechanical analyses revealed that CaSt acted as an internal lubricant, reducing the degree of entanglement among HMWPE molecular chains. Torque rheological measurements revealed that the FP primarily acted as an external lubricant, precipitating to form an external lubricant layer during extrusion, which reduced the torque and die pressure.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Brostow W, Lobland H (2016) Materials: introduction and applications

  2. Patel K, Chikkali SH, Sivaram S (2020) Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene: catalysis, structure, properties, processing and applications. Prog Polym Sci 2020

  3. Bracco P, Bellare A, Bistolfi A, Affatat S (2017) Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene: influence of the chemical, physical and mechanical properties on the wear behavior. A review. Materials

  4. Sun Y, Duan Y, Chen X, Zhang Q, Jin X, Li X, Ma Y, Sun L, Wang Q (2010) Research on the molecular entanglement and disentanglement in the dry spinning process of UHMWPE/decalin solution. J Appl Polym Sci 102(1):864–875

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Chaudhuri K, Lele AK (2020) Rheological quantification of the extent of dissolution of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene in melt-compounded blends with high density polyethylene. J Rheol 64(1):1–12

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Xie M, Li H (2007) Viscosity reduction and disentanglement in ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene melt: Effect of blending with polypropylene and poly(ethylene glycol). Eur Polymer J 43(8):3480–3487

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Herten JF, Louies BD (1989) Composition and method to process polymers including ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene. US

  8. Shiohara T, Abe H (1985) Ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene composition. EP

  9. Aiello R, Mantia F (2015) On the improvement of the processability of UHMW-HDPE by adding a liquid crystalline polymer and a fluoroelastomer. Macromol Mater Eng 286(3):176–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Zatloukal M, De Witte J, Lavallée C, Saha P (2013) Investigation of PPA interactions with polymer melts in single layer extrusion and coextrusion flows. Plast Rubber Compos 36(6):248–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Zatloukal M, Witte JD, Lavallée C, Saha P (2007) Investigation of PPA interactions with polymer melts in single layer extrusion and coextrusion flows. Plast Rubber Compos 36(6):248–253

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kharchenko SB, Mcguiggan PM, Migler KB (2003) Flow induced coating of fluoropolymer additives: Development of frustrated total internal reflection imaging. J Rheol 47(6):1523–1545

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Joshi M, Butola BS, Simon G, Kukaleva N (2006) Rheological and viscoelastic behavior of HDPE/octamethyl-POSS nanocomposites. Macromolecules 39(5):1839–1849

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Zheng Q, Du M, Yang B et al (2001) Relationship between dynamic rheological behavior and phase separation of poly (methyl methacrylate)/poly (styrene-co-acrylonitrile) blends[J]. Polymer 42(13):5743–5747

  15. Van Gurp M, Palmen J (1998) Time-temperature superposition for polymeric blends[J]. Rheol Bull 67(1):5–8

  16. Barnes HA, Hutton JF, Walters K (1989) An introduction to rheology[M]. Elsevier

  17. Tang X, Chen W, Li L (2019) The tough journey of polymer crystallization: battling with chain flexibility and connectivity. Macromolecules

  18. Liu K, Boer ED, Yao Y, Romano D, Ronca S, Rastogi S (2016) Heterogeneous distribution of entanglements in a nonequilibrium polymer melt of UHMWPE: influence on crystallization without and with graphene oxide. Macromolecules 49(19):7497–7509

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Panin CV, Kornienko LA, Suan TN, Ivanova LR, Poltaranin MA (2015) The effect of adding calcium stearate on wear-resistance of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. Procedia Eng 113:490–498

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Utsumi M, Nagata K, Suzuki M, Mori A, Sakuramoto I, Torigoe Y, Kaneeda T, Moriya H (2003) Effects of calcium stearate addition of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene in direct compression molding. J Appl Polym Sci 87(10):1602–1609

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Zhang H, Zhao S, Xin Z, Ye C, Li Z, Xia J, Li J (2020) Mechanism of size effects of a filler on the wear behavior of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene. Chin J Chem Eng 28(7):1950–1963

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Zhang H, Zhao S, Xin Z, Ye C, Li Z, Xia J (2019) Wear resistance mechanism of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene determined from its structure-property relationships. Ind Eng Chem Res 58(42):19519–19530

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Liu Z, Du Y, Ma H, Li J, Zhang X, Zhu E, Shi C, Zhu Z, Zhao S (2022) Mechanism of boron carbide particles improving the wear resistance of UHMWPE: Structure-property relationship. Polymer 245:124733

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Chai S-C, Xu T-Y, Cao X, Wang G, Chen Q, Li H-L (2019) Ultrasmall nanoparticles diluted chain entanglement in polymer nanocomposites. Chin J Polym Sci 37(8):797–805

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Karatrantos A, Clarke N, Composto RJ, Winey KI (2016) Entanglements in polymer nanocomposites containing spherical nanoparticles. Soft Matter 12(9):2567–2574

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Rastogi S, Lippits DR, Peters GW, Graf R, Yao Y, Spiess HW (2005) Heterogeneity in polymer melts from melting of polymer crystals. Nat Mater 4(8):635–641

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Jia M, Wu M, Yan R, Ma X, Wei S, Zhang W (2020) Study on manufacturing and mechanical properties of UHMWPE knitted structural reinforcement in composites. IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci 446(2):022048 (5pp)

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this work by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 21878089).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multiphase Materials Chemical Engineering, State-Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Chunlin Ye, Zhipeng Liu, Jiangshan Li, Yeming Ni, Zhong Xin & Shicheng Zhao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Polyolefins and Catalysis, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Catalysis Technology for Polyolefins, Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Chunlin Ye

Authors
  1. Chunlin Ye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhipeng Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jiangshan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yeming Ni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zhong Xin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Shicheng Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shicheng Zhao.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declared that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ye, C., Liu, Z., Li, J. et al. Effect of calcium stearate and a fluoroelastomer on the flowability of UHMWPE/HDPE composites and the underlying mechanism. J Polym Res 30, 7 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-022-03348-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-022-03348-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation