Unprecedented high-modulus high-strength tapes and films of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene via solvent-free route

Unprecedented high-modulus high-strength tapes and films of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene via solvent-free rout

Unprecedented High-Modulus High-Strength Tapes and Films of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene via Solvent-Free Route

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Macromolocules, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ma200667

BALLISTIC RESISTANT ARTICLES COMPRISING TAPES

The invention pertains to a ballistic-resistant moulded article comprising a compressed stack of sheets comprising reinforcing tapes having a tensile strength of at least 1.0 GPa, a tensile modulus of at least 40 GPa, and a tensile energy-to-break of at least 15 J/g, the direction of the tapes within the compressed stack being not unidirectional, wherein the stack comprises a first layer comprising sheets comprising reinforcing tapes and a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as matrix material and a fur- ther layer comprising sheets comprising reinforcing tapes and a thermoplastic elastomer as matrix material, wherein the further layer comprises 0.2-8 wt.% matrix material. It has been found that the combination of a layer comprising HDPE as matrix with a layer comprising a thermoplastic elastomer as matrix results in an article which combines high impact re- sistance with improved constructional integrity of the article and reduced dynamic and static back face deformation upon im- pact

BALLISTIC-RESISTANT ARTICLES

The present invention pertains to a ballistic-resistant article comprising a stack of sheets comprising reinforcing linear tension members, the direction of the linear tension members within the stack being not unidirectionally, wherein some of the linear tension members are linear tension members comprising high molecular weight polyethylene and some of the linear tension members comprise aramid. It is preferred for the polyethylene linear tension members to be tapes. In one embodiment, the stack comprises a layer which comprises more than 50 wt.% of polyethylene linear tension members and a layer which comprises more than 50 wt.% of aramid linear tension members