HIGHLY TRACK RESISTANT POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITIONS FOR WIRE AND CABLE APPLICATIONS

The present invention relates to a crosslinkable polymer composition comprising a copolymer of ethylene and hexene, which is a multimodal polyethylene having at least two polymer fractions present in the polymer, each having different weight average molecular weights, the copolymer having a crystallinity, determined by DSC as described herein, of at least 40%, the polymer composition further comprising a carbon black content of not more than 4 wt. %, based on the total weight of the polymer composition, wherein the polymer composition does not contain a silane-modified polymeric component, and the polymer composition passes the tracking resistance test at least at 4.5 kV for 1 h followed at 4.75 kV for 1 h, determined according to IEC60587 (2007), method 2A, on compression molded plaques prepared according to ISO 11357 The present invention further relates to a track resistant wire or cable comprising at least one layer of the above polymer composition or to the use of the polymer composition in a wire or cable for increasing track resistance, fire retardancy and/or heat resistance. The present invention further relates to a method for manufacturing the above polymer composition.