Polymer composite materials based on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has a number of unique properties: low friction coefficient, high strength and toughness, frost resistance, and resistance to aggressive media. This determines the use of UHMWPE as a polymer matrix for the manufacture of high-strength technical products. The use of nanoparticles as polymer fillers, which has emerged over the last two decades, has made it possible to significantly improve the characteristics of nanocomposites while reducing their degree of filling, achieving an improvement in properties that could not be achieved using traditional fillers and modifiers. Due to the high specific surface area, nanofillers have high activity for structuring the polymer matrix. However, this becomes a problem in the development of polymeric materials with nanofillers, due to the processes of agglomeration, as well as the difficulty to distribute them uniformly in the volume of the polymer matrix. We have demonstrated an efficient mixing process for UHMWPE and nanofillers, consisting of mechanical activation in a planetary mill and the technology of liquid-phase compounding under the continuous action of ultrasonic vibrations. Despite the large number of studies aimed at enhancing the interfacial interaction between UHMWPE and inorganic fillers, the problem of the weak interaction between the polymer matrix and the inorganic filler remains unsolved. Thus, the research work is aimed at obtaining new composite materials based on UHMWPE strengthened with organically modified montmorillonite and compounds containing 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, ZnO and sulfur.