Aspects of the crosslinking of polyethylene with vinyl silane

The crosslinking reaction of low‐density polyethylene with vinyl triethoxysilane was studied in great detail. The effects of a wide range of concentrations (0–27.33 phr silane and 0–1.25 phr benzoyl peroxide) on the mechanical properties, hot‐set testing, gel contents, and burning behaviors of the resulting crosslinked polyethylene were studied. The effect of variations in the concentration of silane was found to be a dictating parameter for all these properties. Moreover, at or above a certain threshold concentration of silane (4.56 phr), samples not only qualified for hot‐set testing but also showed other properties at an optimum level. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 3796–3803, 2004