The crystallization and rheological behaviors of the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene swollen by petrolatum

Abstract In this paper, petrolatum was utilized as a swelling agent to improve the processability of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and the microstructure, crystallization behaviors and rheological behaviors of these swollen UHMWPE were investigated. Petrolatum exhibits strong swelling ability and remarkably improves the chain mobility and processability of UHMWPE. With the increase of petrolatum concentration, more and more petrolatum molecules penetrate into the entangled chain networks of UHMWPE, and the enhanced chain disentanglements accelerate the crystallization of UHMWPE, strengthen the deformation breakage resistance of UHMWPE and make the chain segments of UHMWPE relax more quickly.