Polyethylene (PE)
Polyethylene (PE):
Polyethylene (PE) PE is the most widely used polyolefin in the world by volume. There are three types of PE, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), in more than 70 grades in total.
-High-density polyethylene (HDPE ):
High density polyethylene (HDPE) is a thermoplastic made from oil. HDPE is resistant to many different solvents and is often used in food containers (certain tupperwares, containers for milk, liquid laundry detergent, etc.), some plastic bags, and containment of certain chemicals, chemical resistant piping systems, and geothermal heat transfer piping systems.
-Low density polyethylene( LDPE):
Low density polyethylene (LDPE) is a thermoplastic made from oil.
It is used predominantly in film applications due to its toughness, flexibility and relative transparency. Its most common use is in plastic bags. It is also widely used for manufacturing various containers, dispensing bottles, wash bottles, tubing,and various molded laboratory equipment.
LDPE has a low melting point, making it popular for use in applications where heat sealing is necessary. Typically, LDPE is used to manufacture flexible films such as those used for plastic retail bags and garment dry cleaning and grocery bags.
-Linear low density polyethylene( LLDPE):
LLDPE has higher tensile strength and higher impact and puncture resistance than LDPE. It can be used to make thinner films, with better environmental stress cracking resistance. It has good resistance to chemicals and to ultraviolet radiation. It has good electrical properties. However it is not as easy to process as LDPE, has lower gloss, and narrower range for heat sealing.
It is used for plastic bags and sheets (where it allows using lower thickness than comparable LDPE), plastic wrap, toys, lids, pipes, buckets and containers, covering of cables, geomembranes, and mainly for flexible tubing.
-Medium-density polyethylene (MDPE) :
MDPE has good shock and drop resistance properties. It also is less notch sensitive than HDPE, stress cracking resistance is better than HDPE. MDPE is typically used in gas pipes and fittings, sacks, shrink film, packaging film, carrier bags and screw closures
