HDPE is one of the major thermoplastics and is a widely used type of polyethylene (PE). Its resins include ethylene homopolymers as well as copolymers of ethylene and alpha-olefin monomers such as 1-butene, 1-hexene and 1-octene.
HDPE has higher crystallinity compared to LDPE and LLDPE which results in higher mechanical properties such as stiffness, modulus and tensile strength, higher temperature resistance, improved barrier properties as well as improved chemical resistance to a variety of solvents and chemicals.
HDPE properties can be adjusted by controlling the molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, degree and type of short chain branching and amount of long chain branching to design resins with optimum performance for different end-use applications.
Applications: HDPE is used worldwide in a very large variety of applications such as rigid containers, toys, film products, sheet products, injection-molded articles, pressure and non-pressure pipes, geomembranes, automotive parts, and fuel tanks.
