Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), also known as high-modulus polyethylene (HMPE), is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Polyethylene is a polymer formed from ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), which is a gas having a molecular weight of 28 g/mol. The generic chemical formula for polyethylene is –(C 2 H 4 ) n –, where n is the degree of polymerization. A schematic of the chemical structures for ethylene and polyethylene is shown in Fig. 1.
Schematic of the chemical structure of ethylene and polyethylene
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Sherazi, T.A. (2016). Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene. In: Drioli, E., Giorno, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Membranes. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44324-8_591
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44324-8_591
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