Controlling Polyolefin Properties by In‐Reactor Blending: 2. Particle Design

In‐reactor blends of ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW‐PE) and high‐density medium molecular weight polyethylene (mMW‐PE) were prepared by precise multi‐stage slurry polymerizations. Correlations between polymerization conditions and polymer properties of the reactor powders were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), bulk density and particle size analysis. It is shown that changing the polymerization conditions influences the particle surface morphology as well as the bulk density and this can make the dispersion of UHMW‐PE in mMW‐PE increase, as proposed in a model. magnified image