Ethylene, polyethylene, product manufacturing
The word poly is used in science, and in general in the English language, to convey the concept of several or many. Polymers are molecules that are made up of several other small units. These smaller units are called monomers (hence the term multiple monomers, polymer). Monomers work somewhat like the pieces of a toy house. Children have these pieces in large numbers and by connecting them together, they create larger parts of a toy house. To make polymers, a large number of monomers also give a larger structure with more attractive properties.
Chemical properties of ethylene and its polymers
The point is that each carbon atom must establish a total of four covalent bonds with every other possible atom in order to be so-called saturated and reach chemical equilibrium (i.e., it is no longer interested in forming bonds with other substances. This means that the substance is stable). In a molecule like ethane (the saturated sibling of ethylene), each carbon atom has been able to bond to three hydrogen atoms and one other carbon with a single bond.
Triggering Ethylene and Starting the Polymerization Process
The chemical process known as polymerization is, of course, complex and beyond the scope of this article. However, the general idea is to combine monomers (in our case, ethylene) with a series of catalysts. Then create the right temperature and conditions to break the carbon-carbon double bond, and finally create the desired polymer (in our case, polyethylene). The process is simple in concept, however, to achieve our desired structure of a complex polymer molecule, we sometimes need to resort to very complex and technical methods.
Different Shapes and Structures of Polyethylene
The important point here is that when many monomers are joined together, the final product does not always have a specific shape. This supermolecule, which can be made up of thousands of carbon and hydrogen atoms, is likely to come in many different forms. These different forms differ in physical and chemical properties. Density, flexibility, melting point, reactivity, electrical properties, and many others are influenced by the number of monomers and the shape of the polymer.
