COMPOSITE MATERIALS BASED ON ULTRA-HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYOLEFIN FIBER AND MATRIX, AND PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF

摘要

The present invention relates to a polyolefin composite material based on fiber and a matrix of a polyolefin, selected from polyethylene and polypropylene possessing improved mechanical properties. The polyolefin composite comprises a network of fibers and matrix which have a molecular weight of above 500,000. This network is held together by compressed and crystallized molecular brush layers, obtained by the swelling of the external surface of said fibers and reciprocal entanglement with it of the polymer matrix. The composite material provides a tensile strength of at least 75 % of the volume average tenacity of the polyolefin fiber network and matrix. A process for obtaining a polyolefin composite material and the improved properties of the resulted product are also described.