polyethylene
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CG: n

CT: Polyethylene polymers are commonly employed as biomaterials and, depending on the specific structure, they can be employed as catheter tubes, facial implants, artificial tendons, or bearing components in total joint replacements. Polyethylene is made through an addition polymerization reaction that utilizes an ethylene monomer (–C2H4–) repeated along the chain. Process time, temperature, and pressure conditions enable a broad range in degree of branching, molecular weight, crystallinity, entanglements, and cross-linking to be obtained in polyethylene polymers.

S: SDir- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/polyethylene-polymer (last access: 23 January 2025)

N: 1. “Polyethylene”. Polymer of ethylene, 1862, from French polyéthylène. Related: Polyethylenic (1860). From  “poly-” (word-forming element meaning “many, much, multi-, one or more,” from Greek polys “much” -plural polloi-, from PIE root *pele- (1) “to fill,” with derivatives referring to multitudinousness or abundance) + “ethylene” (poisonous, flammable gas, 1852, from “ethyl” (1838, from German ethyl, Liebig, 1834), from “ether” + “-yl”; ethyl alcohol, under other names, was widely used in medicine by 13c. + “-ene”, probably suggested by “methylene”; also from 1852).

2. Any of various partially crystalline lightweight thermoplastics (CH2CH2)x that are resistant to chemicals and moisture, have good insulating properties, and are used especially in packaging and insulation

3. Low-density polyethylene was first produced in 1933 in England by Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. (ICI) during studies of the effects of extremely high pressures on the polymerization of polyethylene. ICI was granted a patent on its process in 1937 and began commercial production in 1939. It was first used during World War II as an insulator for radar cables.

  • In 1930 Carl Shipp Marvel, an American chemist working at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (now DuPont Company), discovered a high-density material, but the company failed to recognize the potential of the product. It was left to Karl Ziegler of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research at Mülheim an der Ruhr, W.Ger. (now Germany), to gain credit for inventing linear HDPE—which Ziegler actually produced with Erhard Holzkamp in 1953, catalyzing the reaction at low pressure with an organometallic compound. The process was later improved by the Italian chemist Giulio Natta, and the compounds are now known as Ziegler-Natta catalysts. In part for this innovation, Ziegler was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1963. Since that time, by using different catalysts and polymerization methods, scientists have produced polyethylene with various properties and structures. LLDPE, for example, was introduced by the Phillips Petroleum Company in 1968.

4. Chemical Elements and Compounds; Plastic Materials : polyethylene, PE, polyethene, polythene, ethylene resin, polyethylene resin.

  • A polymer of ethylene [ethene].
  • A white, waxy thermoplastic whose repeating unit is [CH2-CH2]x. Low-density polyethylene is flexible and is used for packaging film, squeeze bottles, housewares, and wire and cable insulation. High-density polyethylene is more rigid and is used in bleach, detergent, and household chemical bottles, cold-water pipe, and garbage cans.
  • polyethylene; polyethene; PE: terms, abbreviation and definition standardized by ISO [International Organization for Standardization].

S: 1. Etymonline — https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=polyethylenic, https://www.etymonline.com/word/poly- , https://www.etymonline.com/word/ethylene (last access: 23 January 2025). 2. MW — https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polyethylene (last access: 21 January 2025). 3. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/science/polyethylene (last access: 23 January 2025). 4. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=POLYETHYLENE&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 23 January 2025).

SYN: PE, polyethene, polythene, ethylene resin, polyethylene resin. (depending on context)

S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=POLYETHYLENE&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 23 January 2025)

CR: ethanol, hydrocarbon, hydrogen, plastic.