Talk:Polyethylene

properties

Why magnetic susceptibility but not dielectric constant and/or index of refraction? Gah4 (talk) 20:15, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

AI proofreading report

The following is a test. It is a report from an AI app searching for clarity and English. Action items: if an editor decides to act on any of the issues identified by AI, use your own wording or delete or challenge ({{cn}}) the potentially problematic statements. Introduction / Lead section

Lead / Introduction

"It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bottles, cups, jars, folders, etc.)." — "folders" (presentation folders) is an oddly specific and minor item in a list alongside bottles, cups, and jars. It disrupts the flow and would puzzle most readers. Worth reconsidering or removing. "All forms are nontoxic as well as chemically resilient, contributing to polyethylene's popularity as a multi-use plastic." — "multi-use" is somewhat vague here; "multipurpose" or "general-purpose" would be more precise. "Being a hydrocarbon, polyethylene is colorless to opaque (without impurities or colorants) and combustible." — The parenthetical "(without impurities or colorants)" applies logically only to "colorless," not to "opaque" — yet "opaque" is included in the same phrase. Clearer: "polyethylene is colorless or milky-opaque (depending on crystallinity, and absent impurities or colorants) and combustible." "Because polyethylene was found to have very low-loss properties at very high frequency radio waves, commercial distribution in Britain was suspended on the outbreak of World War II, secrecy imposed, and the new process was used to produce insulation for UHF and SHF coaxial cables of radar sets." — "at very high frequency radio waves" should be "at very high radio frequencies." Also, "on the outbreak of" is slightly archaic; "at the outbreak of" is more natural. And "secrecy imposed" is a dangling absolute phrase with no clear grammatical subject — better: "…was suspended at the outbreak of World War II; secrecy was imposed and the process was redirected to produce insulation…"

Properties section

"On the other hand, non-polar gases such as Oxygen, carbon dioxide, and flavorings can pass it easily." — "Oxygen" is incorrectly capitalized (not a proper noun). Also, "flavorings" are not gases — they are flavor compounds that may be gaseous or dissolved. The sentence needs revision: "…non-polar gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, as well as non-polar flavor compounds, can permeate it easily." "Polyethylene burns slowly with a blue flame having a yellow tip and gives off an odour of paraffin (similar to candle flame)." — "similar to candle flame" should be "similar to a candle flame" (missing article).

Synthesis/polymerization

"Ethylene is a stable molecule that polymerizes only upon contact with catalysts. The conversion is highly exothermic." — The second sentence is abrupt and lacks a subject link to the first. Better: "The polymerization is highly exothermic." "Coordination polymerization is the most pervasive technology, which means that metal chlorides or metal oxides are used." — "pervasive" is a mildly odd word choice here; "prevalent" or "widely used" would be more standard.  Done

Types of polyethylene — UHMWPE

"Because of its outstanding toughness and its cut, wear, and excellent chemical resistance, UHMWPE is used in a diverse range of applications." — The adjective "excellent" applies awkwardly only to "chemical resistance" while "cut" and "wear" resistance are left bare. Better: "Because of its outstanding toughness and its excellent resistance to cutting, wear, and chemicals, UHMWPE is used in a diverse range of applications."

Types — HDPE

"These catalysts prefer the formation of free radicals at the ends of the growing polyethylene molecules. They cause new ethylene monomers to add to the ends of the molecules, rather than along the middle, causing the growth of a linear chain." — These two sentences say essentially the same thing twice. The second sentence is redundant and can be dropped or merged: "…prefer the formation of radicals at chain ends, thereby directing monomer addition to the chain terminus and promoting linear growth."  Done

Types — LLDPE

"Lower thickness may be used compared to LDPE." — This sentence immediately follows one already stating that "Lower-thickness (gauge) films can be blown, compared with LDPE." This is straightforward repetition within the same paragraph and should be deleted.

Types — LDPE

"It has, therefore, less strong intermolecular forces as the instantaneous-dipole induced-dipole attraction is less." — "less strong" should be "weaker." Also "as" here means "because," but "since" or "because" would be clearer: "It therefore has weaker intermolecular forces, since the instantaneous-dipole induced-dipole attraction is reduced." "The radical polymerization process used to make LDPE does not include a catalyst that 'supervises' the radical sites on the growing PE chains." — The scare-quoted "supervises" is an informal anthropomorphism that is jarring in an otherwise technical passage. A clearer phrasing: "…does not include a catalyst that controls the location of radical sites on the growing PE chains." "Addition of ethylene monomers to the secondary or tertiary sites creates branching." — Should be "to the secondary or tertiary radical sites" for clarity, since "sites" without the qualifier "radical" is slightly ambiguous.

Biodegradation section

"Several plastics - such as polyesters, polycarbonates, and polyamides - degrade either by hydrolysis or air oxidation." — Dashes should be em-dashes (—), not hyphens. This is a formatting issue but worth noting for Wikipedia style. "At best, these polymers degrade very slowly, but degradation experiments are difficult because yields and rates are very slow." — "yields and rates are very slow" is redundant — rates being slow is already implied by "degrade very slowly," and "yields" being "slow" is the wrong word (yields are low, not slow). Suggested: "…but such degradation experiments are difficult to interpret, as yields are low and rates are extremely slow." "The Indian mealmoth larvae are claimed to metabolize polyethylene based on observing that plastic bags at a researcher's home had small holes in them." — "based on observing" dangles — it lacks a subject. The intended meaning is: "This claim arose from the observation that plastic bags in a researcher's home had small holes in them." Also, "at a researcher's home" is oddly casual for an encyclopedia article; the researcher's name (Yang) is known and cited. "Deducing that the hungry larvae must have digested the plastic somehow, he and his team analyzed their gut bacteria and found a few that could use plastic as their only carbon source." — Another dangling modifier: "Deducing…" needs a stated subject. Since the previous sentence has no clear "he," the reference is vague. The paragraph should name the researcher.  Done

Greenhouse gases section

"When incubated in air, LDPE emits gases at rates ~2 times and ~76 times higher in comparison to incubation in water for methane and ethylene, respectively." — Awkward word order. Better: "When incubated in air rather than water, LDPE emits methane at ~2 times the rate and ethylene at ~76 times the rate."

Modifications section

"Metallocene polyethylene (PE-M) is prepared by means of metallocene catalysts, usually including copolymers (z. B. ethene / hexene)." — "z. B." is the German abbreviation for "zum Beispiel" (i.e., "for example"). This is clearly a translation artifact from a German source and should be replaced with "e.g."  Done "Copolymer of ethylene and unsaturated carboxylic acids (such as acrylic acid) are characterized by good adhesion to diverse materials…" — Subject-verb agreement error: "Copolymer" (singular) with "are" (plural). Should be "Copolymers of ethylene…are…" "If unsaturated esters are copolymerized with ethylene, either the alcohol moiety may be in the polymer backbone (as it is the case in ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer) or of the acid moiety (e. g. in ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer)." — "as it is the case" is a Germanism (calque of "wie es der Fall ist"); standard English is "as is the case." Also the parallel structure breaks down: "either the alcohol moiety may be in the backbone…or of the acid moiety" — "or of the acid moiety" is not grammatically parallel. Should be: "…either the alcohol moiety may be incorporated in the polymer backbone (as is the case in ethylene-vinyl acetate) or the acid moiety may be (as in ethylene-ethyl acrylate)." "With higher proportions it approaches to the one of polyvinyl acetate (1.17 g/cm³)." — "approaches to" is incorrect; the correct construction is "approaches" (no "to"). Also "the one" is a Germanism; correct English is simply "that of polyvinyl acetate." "Azo crosslinking (PE-Xd): In the so-called Lubonyl process polyethylene is crosslinked preadded azo compounds after extrusion in a hot salt bath." — "preadded" appears to be a translation artifact and is not standard English. The intended meaning seems to be "crosslinked using pre-added azo compounds" or "crosslinked by azo compounds added prior to extrusion." "Furthermore, it is used for softening PVC foils, without risking the migrate of plasticizers." — "the migrate" is not English; should be "the migration of plasticizers."

Summary of categories:

Translation artifacts from German (items 20, 22, 23, 24, 25): the article appears to incorporate passages translated from the German Wikipedia with insufficient editing. Grammatical errors (subject-verb agreement, dangling modifiers, missing articles): items 5, 6, 17, 18, 21, 25. Redundancy (items 10, 11, 16). Awkward or imprecise word choices (items 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 12, 13). Formatting (item 15).

--Smokefoot (talk) 14:23, 22 March 2026 (UTC)