What are the chlorinated polyethylenes?

Chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) is a polymer material produced by chlorination substitution reaction of high density polyethylene (HDPE). Depending on its chlorine content, CPE can be divided into the following categories: plastic CPE (15% chlorine content), elastic CPE (16%~20%), elastomeric CPE (25%~50%), rigid CPE (51%~60%), and highly elastic CPE.
The common commercial CPE on the market usually has a chlorine content between 30% and 40% and has properties similar to rubber.

Classification and Characteristics
Plastic CPE: lower chlorine content, performance close to polyethylene.
Elastic CPE: chlorine content between 16%~20%, performance between polyethylene and elastomer CPE.
Elastomer CPE: chlorine content between 25%~50%, performance close to rubber.
Rigid CPE: chlorine content between 51%~60%, performance close to polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Highly elastic CPE: higher chlorine content, performance close to PVC.

Application Areas
CPE is widely used in many fields because of its excellent heat resistance, aging resistance, flame retardancy and other characteristics:

Plastics field: CPE can be used as plasticizer and modifier of plastics to improve the abrasion resistance, aging resistance and flame retardant properties of plastics.

Wire and cable: CPE has excellent flame retardant properties and electrical insulation properties, widely used in wire and cable insulation and sheath layer

Anti-corrosion coatings: CPE has good chemical resistance and weather resistance, and can be used to make anti-corrosion coatings to protect metal and concrete and other substrates.

Waterproof material: CPE has excellent waterproof performance, can be used to make waterproof coil, waterproof coatings, etc.

Rubber products: CPE can be used as plasticizer, cross-linking agent and modifier of rubber to improve the abrasion resistance, aging resistance and flame retardant properties of rubber products.

Production process
The main production methods of CPE include solvent method, solid phase method and suspension method. Among them, the suspension method is the most commonly used method in the industry, especially the aqueous phase suspension method, which is widely used because of its high chlorine utilization rate and stable chlorine content in the product.