The difference between chemically cross-linked polyethylene foam-XPE and electronically cross-linked polyethylene foam-IXPE is that XPE foam is that polyethylene and peroxide cross-linking agent undergo cross-linking at high temperature in the foaming furnace to become foamed, and its skin and the cells are slightly thicker and larger.

IXPE foam is irradiated by high-energy electrons to form a network of crosslinks between PE molecules during the electron accelerator irradiation process. Its skin and cells are finer and smaller in pore size. Under the same magnification, the cells of XPE foam are coarse in the case of IXPE foam cells, and under the same magnification and thickness, the mechanical properties and thermal insulation properties of IXPE foam are better than those of XPE foam.

The thermal insulation performance of the material mainly depends on the thermal conductivity of the material. The smaller the thermal conductivity of the material, the better the thermal insulation performance of the material. The greater the thermal conductivity, the worse the insulation performance of the material. The thermal conductivity is related to the material’s moisture content ratio, pore characteristics, density, moisture content, temperature and other factors.

At the same use temperature, the thermal conductivity of IXPE foam of the same density is lower than that of XPE foam. This is due to the influence of pores. The larger the pore size in the material, the greater the thermal conductivity. IXPE is cross-linked by radiation at room temperature, which can control the degree of cross-linking, the product is uniform, the cells are fine and fine, the pore size is small, and the pore size is small, so the thermal conductivity is small. XPE is a cross-linking agent that undergoes high temperature decomposition and cross-linking. The degree of cross-linking is not easy to control, and the uniformity of the product is not good. The cells are larger, the pore size is larger, and the thermal conductivity is larger.