Abstract

Polyolefin resins are a large family of semicrystalline and amorphous polymers and copolymers used as commodity plastics, engineering plastics, and elastomers. Industry produces a broad variety of polyolefin resins. They differ in chemical structure, molecular weight, stereoregularity, and crystallinity.

Polyolefin resins are manufactured by a number of technological processes. They include polymerization with radical initiators in supercritical ethylene at 150–350°C and a variety of catalytic polymerization processes in hydrocarbon slurry, in a neat monomer, in solution, and in the gas phase, using Ziegler–Natta catalysts, chromium oxide-based catalysts and metallocene catalysts. Polyolefin resins enjoy a large range of applications, both as commodity resins, engineering resins, elastomers, synthetic rubbers, and as specialty polymers. These applications include film, coatings, wire insulation, household and industrial containers, pipe and tubing of various types, as well as components of engineering articles. Because of their versatility, polyolefin resins have become the largest commercially manufactured polymer products in the world: the combined 2004 world capacity was ~100 × 10⁶ metric tons, nearly 50% of the total production of all plastics.