High pressure radical polymerization of ethylene with water dilution

The radical polymerization of ethylene has been performed in the presence of water. The structural characteristics of polymers prepared with 0-60% wt of water at 1400 atm and various temperatures (140–260°) were determined by the usual solution methods (viscometry, GPC), by density and by infrared spectroscopy. The experimental results show that, when water content increases, long chain branching (LCB) increases and molecular weight distribution broadens.